Amen. Amen. Amen. That's the way it is. So be it. Go back to Isaiah 42
now. If the Lord blesses this message, It may be a good one to give
to someone the difference between our rock and their rock, between
our Lord Jesus Christ and the other Jesus that's being preached
today. Read verse 1 with me again. Behold,
my servant, whom I uphold, mind elects in whom my soul delighted. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentile." Now, I examine myself all the
time as to my purpose in preaching. I think about this thing of preaching,
what The purpose is. How to do it most effective way
and so forth. And I know this month I know
the whole purpose in preaching is to declare the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's my job is to lift up Christ
said if I be lifted up. If I be not only crucified and
he walked. But he was buried and rose and
is exalted and set at the right hand and five. If he be exalted
and declared and extolled and honored and glorified, he said,
I will draw all men to me, my people to me. So the purpose
in preaching is to number one, exalt the Lord Jesus Christ,
to glorify him. And to glorify the God who sent
him. And when we declare Christ and
set forth Christ and preach Christ, sinners look to him and behold
his glory. And that's how we're saved. Like
Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. Our Lord said,
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so, must
the son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him
shall not perish, but have eternal life. And this thing of preaching
is just like Moses. What he did was hold it up. The
remedy was him. Savior of sinners. And I started
to, I went, I started to go over there and show you that, but
I got sidetracked real bad there, David. Couldn't get away from
it. that. So we're going to look
at that Sunday morning. But that's the purpose of the
break. And. Salvation is to behold the Lord
Jesus Christ to look. Sure it's. We're built up we're
edified we grow by looking and behold him. So our Lord says
here in verse one, this is the Lord God speaking of the Lord,
his son. He said, behold, my servant. You know, over twelve hundred
times the word behold is in Scripture. Nearly every time the Lord says
it, behold. The word behold means low We
have an old saying, lo and behold. I think all of our old colloquial
sayings come from years ago when people learned to read by reading
the Bible, didn't they? Lands of Goshen, you know, things
like that. But lo and behold, we say that
when something amazing and glorious and wonderful and a surprise
It's to us, we say, well, lo and behold, would you look at
that. That's exactly what it means. Our God said, behold,
would you look at this, my friends. Listen to some of these ways
the Lord says this. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Behold, he cometh with clouds. Behold, he said, I am alive forevermore. Behold, a lion of the tribe of
Judah hath prevailed. Would you look at that? Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with man. Behold, a white horse and him
that sitteth upon it, hath a name on his thigh. Behold, one of
the last ones in the revelation, I come quickly. Even so, come. Lord Jesus. And here the Lord
God said, Behold my servant. May the Lord enable us tonight
to behold God's servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called
God's servant because he was sent by the Father to do the
Father's will, to serve God's glory, to serve God's purpose,
to serve his people to save his people. That's God's glory. That's
God's purpose and will, and that's how he serves us, by saving us.
But he's called God's servant. Years ago, rich landowners, or
husbandmen, they're called in Scripture, who owned large estates,
they had many servants, many servants throughout their estates,
all of whom served the lord and master over that estate but in
those largest states those masters had one real server. One trusted one principal server
you might call him the butler. But anyway this server of this
master he was the lord or the. In charge of all the other server.
All of the servants were under him. And he was always the one
whom the master trusted more than any other, and entrusted
his whole estate with. He was his confidant. He spoke
to, told him things he didn't tell the other servant. He was
his trustworthy, the man he could trust with his entire estate,
knowing it was in good hands. Servant. God says, behold, my
servant. The Lord Jesus Christ. He was
the one, this servant in these old days, was the one who knew
the Master better than anybody else. He knew his mind, he knew
his will. He knew what pleased him. Behold,
my servant, God said. He was the one who cared for
the Master's good, that the Master's estate would prosper. And it says, the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper. in his hand. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the servant. Behold my servant, God said. He came to do my will and he
did it. And God is well pleased, it says
in verse 21, for his righteousness sake. He magnified the Lord,
may it be so. Well, look at the next thing.
Behold my servant whom I uphold. Whom I uphold. As I said, the
purpose in preaching is just to preach Christ. That's all
I'm going to do tonight. Your dad, Brother Stephen, used
to say to me sometimes, I didn't see you tonight. All I saw was
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my purpose tonight. Behold,
God says, My servant whom I uphold. Whom I uphold. This doesn't mean
what you think it means. It doesn't mean I hold him up. If this word whole uphold means
sustained. It means I support him in everything
he does. In other words, God says this
is my servant. I'm behind him in everything
he says and does. I sustain him. I uphold everything
he says. I will uphold him. Everything
he does, I will uphold him. I am with him. I support him. I sustain him. Master. I could not help but think of
our Lord as the advocate. John said, We have an advocate
that means a lawyer. With the power of Jesus Christ,
the righteous, I could not help but think of him as an advocate. When I look at the word of hope
means to sustain. All right. This is a good illustration. that the Lord Jesus Christ is
the advocate sent by the Father, the public servant, the publican
defender. That's who he is. And everything
Christ says and does, the Father upholds or sustains. Have you ever seen a court of
law or heard in a court of law when someone brings up an objection
to something and the judge says, I know you heard that I've heard
it all my life I never really knew what it meant I called a
lawyer friend of mine and asked him. He said what that means
is it's noted it's recorded it's accepted and that's it it is
written back. All right in a court of law when
a prosecuting attorney this is generally the case. when a prosecuting
attorney brings up accusations and charges against the defendant. And the public, or in our case,
public defender, says, I object. And the judge says, sustain.
Meaning, I accept your objection. That is no good. Can't do that
anymore. I sustain that. When the judge
says sustain that means I uphold it the charge cannot be held
against the accused or brought up again. Are you with me but John who
shall lay anything the charge of God when the law of God says
guilty crisis I object. He says, I have fulfilled, I
have magnified the law and made it honorable, I have fulfilled
every jot and tittle for this accused one, God says, sustained. When the accuser of the brethren,
Satan, or our conscience even, listen to me, when your conscience
smites you, when your conscience accuses you, Christ says, I object. There is nothing on the record
against the accused. Every single charge has been
blotted out. It will not be found. And the
judge says, sustained. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
whom I support, whom I sustain. All that he says and does, all
of God's people are truly Justified from all things, from
which we cannot be. No flesh would be justified in
God's sight by the works, but justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Behold,
I started to preach on the covenant here down in verse six. Look at this. He said I the Lord
have called the unrighteousness will hold on hand and will keep
the the Lord says I will give the for a covenant. Not just
the head of the covenant John not just the surety of the covenant
he is the kind of. The Lord God doesn't have to
look at a piece of paper to say he looks at Christ Christ is
the cup how do I know God except me. Christ is accepted. I'm accepted
in the beloved, you say. How do I know I'll be with Him?
Christ said that we're seated with Him right now in glory.
We're in Him. All those are in Him. So He is
our salvation. Behold my servant. Go over to Isaiah 49. I'm not
going to deal with all the verses that we read. Don't worry. But Isaiah forty nine, God's
servant, he says, Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, mine
elect, and whom my soul delighteth. Mine elect. Look at Isaiah forty
nine, verse one. He says, Listen, O Isles. And when he says Isles, He said
that over there in Isaiah 42. That means to the ends of the
earth. Go to the utmost, uttermost, the far corners of the earth.
Go to a deserted island if there's just one fellow on it named John. Go and tell him this. They'll
all hear this. the isles. Listen, O isles, unto
me, and hearken, ye people from far, those who are far off. The
Lord hath called me," this is Christ speaking, "...from the
womb, from the bowels of my mother, hath he made mention of mine."
Look down at verse six. And he said, "...the Lord said
to me, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob." and to restore the preserve of
Israel. I will also give thee for a light
to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end
of the earth. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer
of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises." to
him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers kings
shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of
the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he
shall choose thee." He's exalted one, chosen among the people. Look back at our text now. Behold
my servant whom I uphold, mine elect, God's choice servant. what that meant. Mine elect,
God's choice servant. I speak as a man when I say Christ
is the man God chose for the job of saving his people. Not that there was any other
choice, mind you, but he's the man, speaking as we can understand,
that the Lord God chose to do the work, this great salvation. Mine and whom my soul delighted,"
he said. Our Lord said this about himself
over in Proverbs 8. He says, I was with him. I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning. Wherever the earth
was, I was by him. One brought up with him. I was
daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, and he in
me, and rejoicing in the habitable parts. Do you remember that? The Lord among the sons of men,
and my delights were with the sons of men. Christ is the one
whom God delighted in and delighted to do His will. God said, I'm sending you, my
servant, to do my will. This is the Father's will. Of
all which he hath given me, I can do none. And Christ said, I delight
to do thy will. Oh, I come, and the volume of
the book is made mention of my name, the Chosen One, Christ. Now listen to all that Christ
shall do. I told you, If the Lord blesses
it, it would be a good one to give to those who tell them the
difference between the true Christ of Scripture and the Southern. Listen to what all it says. He
shall do and shall not do. No ifs, ands, buts, or maybe
about this. It's not yea and nay. This is
all yea and amen. and what he shall do and shall
not do. All right? Look at it. Verse
1. He says, Behold, I, my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, and
whom my soul delighted, I have put my spirit upon him. That
means he's the anointed one. That's what the word Christ means.
He says he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. And whenever you see the word
judgment, don't always think of it as something bad, as against
us. No, this judgment is for us. This is in keeping with him who
is the advocate. The word judgment here means
verdict. You make a verdict, a sentence,
a formal decree or a law. That's what it means. The isle
shall wait for his law, his judgment, for him to pass the verdict. Okay? All judgment, didn't Christ
say, all judgment is given unto me. I have the keys of hell and
death, he said. I'm the one. Father quickeneth
whom he will, even so that son quickeneth whom he will. And
he hath committed all judgment to me. Folks, our souls are in
good hands. All judgment, he shall bring
forth judgment to the Gentiles, to the Gentiles. Now, that's
us. That's us. This is not just for the Jews,
for Gentiles. Not just for the Jews, but for
the Gentiles. And he'll bring forth judgment. He'll make the verdict. He'll
pass the sentence. to the Gentiles as our substitute,
as our advocate, as our law keeper of not guilty. This is the verdict
we're waiting on. Those who need mercy, you see,
Jew and Gentile. Those who need an advocate with
the Father. Here's the sentence we're waiting
on. You ever watch the court of law when somebody's being
accused and they're waiting on the verdict to be, the judgment
to be made? Boy, if you're the accused, what you're waiting
to hear is, not guilty. This is the judgment that we
will bring to the Gentiles, to those that are far off. The woman
caught in the very act of adultery. They brought her to him and said,
Moses said it. The law said it. She's guilty. She's caught. We caught her. And the law will say it will.
Who did they bring her to? The one to whom all judgment,
the one who's going to pass the verdict? Oh, wasn't she lucky? No, not lucky. This was the one
of God's elect. This is one of God's sheep, whom
they unwittingly brought to the only one who could pass the verdict,
who could make the judgment of not guilty. He's the one who
wrote the law. Moses didn't write it. Moses
said, no, Christ the Lord with his own finger wrote that law.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Well, here she is caught red-handed.
They brought her to his feet and he says, what's your judgment?
He says, not condemned. Everyone that comes to everyone. A woman one time who was married
five times and living with a man whom she was not married to he
came to her. Go to the othermost parts of
the earth, go find the worst and most sinful and ignorant
Gentile heathen dog and bring them to me. And I'll tell them, just like
you, not you. Oh my, behold my soul. I start
thinking about this gospel that we preach of a sovereign God
is. Sovereign mercy and grace to
whom he will. No sinners argue this. Oh, they rejoice. Oh, any real
sinner. Any God. Any sinner whom God reveals the
truth to nobody, they don't reject this gospel, they don't object
to this gospel. There is, therefore, when Christ
passes the judgment, here it is, there is, therefore, right
now, and from hence, evermore, no condemnation to them that
are in me. Don't lay anything to their feet. We don't need a priest, we don't
need anybody else. All judgment. Behold, so this
is what God is saying. My servant. You Gentile? Gentile dogs? All dogs kill each
other. If we can say with the woman,
the Canaanite woman, with Mephibosheth, I'm a dead dog. We're going to
be with him anyway. Say to the Gentile, he'll bring
forth judgment. Verse 2 says, He'll not cry,
nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. The
Lord Jesus Christ did not come here to try to get people to
believe him. In the scriptures, you won't
find him standing on the street corner saying, Won't somebody
please accept me? Neither do his preachers. that
the Lord didn't stand out in public places and say, won't
somebody please believe me? Won't somebody please come to
me? No, sir, that's not the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord and great Shepherd of
the sheep calmly, confidently came to this earth to seek and
to save every one of the people that God Almighty gave to Him
in that covenant for the world. Their names were written on his
heart, engraved on the palms of his hands, and on his big
shoulders. And he came and he said, I know
my sheep, and I'm going to find every one of them. And John,
he did just that. He doesn't have to stand out
there and cry to everyone. No, he calmly, confidently calls
them by name, and they come to him. He said, I know my sheep. and
have known of mine." The Lord Jesus Christ did not come to
try and save. No, sir. He came to save. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
come to make a down payment for salvation. No, sir. He came to
redeem. He came to pay the full price
to put away all the sins of all of God's people forever. Did he? He did. He paid it all. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
come to do all he could do, but he came to do all that could
be done, and all we could not do. Do you hear me? He didn't
come, like these false preachers say, to do all he could do, and
now it's up to you. That's blasphemy. He came to
do all that could be done, that should be done, that needed to
be done, all that we could not do to save us, and he did it. I love it. What's the difference
between the true Christ, our Christ, the Christ of Scripture?
He accomplished the redemption of his people. He didn't come
to try to get people to believe him. See, he came. to seek, to
save, and he did just that. And he sends out his Holy Spirit,
who is sovereign like himself, and he calls all of them effectually. He said, I call them and they
come. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. That's the Christ. He shall. He shall not cry. Look at verse 3. Oh, this is
a blessing. First, a bruised reed shall he not break. Smoking flax shall he not quench. What's that talking about? Well,
a bruised reed shall he not break. Smoking flax. This is talking
about the weakest, most helpless believer. No matter how weak
the faith, if it's faith in Christ, it's a If it's mustard seed. Mustard seed. I read once again the comments
you made on some of your sister's teachings. They hurt you. I read
them at that time. I read them again just the other
day. The last thing you said in that letter was, Thank God
for mustard seed. Thanks. Bruce Greig, the Lord doesn't
just spare big oats. but little satins. One time when
I was clearing some land, some property, I forget which house
it was, but I didn't just cut down and leave all of the big
oats and the big hardwoods. I left a few satins. A few satins. Lord spares the little wheat,
bruised wreaths, smoking flax. What's that? You ever had a,
well, you older folks, I used to use a coal oil lamp, and we
still have them, but if you can't get that wick, sometimes, you
know, it just smokes, doesn't put off much light. It doesn't
burn very brightly, doesn't shine very brightly, just puts out
a lot of smoke. Christ said about His people,
you're the light of the world, among whom you shine as lights
in the world. Most of us don't feel like we
shine. Most of us feel like we're just a smoke in God's mouth.
No. That we don't bear any pride
at all in what He says, no matter. I'm not going to put that out.
Where there's smoke, there's God. That's what it says
in the margin there. dimly burning, maybe dimly burning. Lord, I believe, but oh, hell
not. Smoking flax, the Lord will not put out, He'll not put away
those who believe and trust Him, no matter how weak the faith,
and He'll fan the flames. He shall not, He shall not quench,
He shall not put away or cast out the weakest believers, all
that come unto Him. He shall, here it is again, verse
three, he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. See, when Christ
makes that verdict of not guilty, he doesn't
just forgive sin, he pays for it. Unto truth, that means, you
see, mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace
have kissed each other. Mercy and, how can God be merciful? and yet not spare the guilty. He shall be in no wise clear
the guilty. How can God be just and yet justify? Christ. He was made sin. He who knew no sin. That we might
be made the righteous. That's actual. And so he brings
forth this judgment. He makes this verdict. He justifies
in truth, in truth. God cannot condemn a righteous
man, and he can't forsake, he can't forgive an unrighteous
man. How can he, how can he? Christ. He said, I fulfilled the law,
and he actually did that out of hand. And if Christ was actually
made sin, but God cannot forsake a righteous man. So Christ became
the unrighteous. And God actually punished me. I was crucified. So that's how he brings forth
this judgment of truth. The last thing, here's what he
shall not do. He shall not fail. shall not fail." When the Lord,
the first reported words of the Lord Jesus Christ as a human
being. He was 12 years old. His mother said, your father
and I have been looking for you. We're worried about you. And he said, wished you not,
know you not, don't you understand that I must be about my Father's
business. What's that? I've already quoted
it. This is the Father's will, that
of all which he hath given me. I lose nothing, but raise it
up again at the last day. The father's will, the father's
business that he sent the son, the servant, to do was to save
his people. That's the first recorded word.
John, you know what the last one was? It is. This was written two thousand
years ago. I didn't write it down. When did Isaiah live? Well, many years. Long before Christ came, this
was written. You know, Isaiah 53, don't you? The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify me. He shall bear their iniquity. For the transgressions of my
people was his will. Long before Christ came, God
says he shall not fail. What's the difference between
our Christ and theirs, the true Christ and the false one? God
said, He shall not fail. God can't lie. Christ can't lie. Scriptures don't lie. Wherever,
O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Did he fail? Everyone
for whom Jesus Christ died is saved. He did nothing. He did nothing. When He gets
the glory, He's going to say, Behold, I and the children which
thou hast given me, every one of those which thou hast given
me, I have lost nothing. Now, that's the Savior we need,
isn't it? That's the only one. I pity the
people who pray unto a God who cannot save. Pray unto a Jesus
who tried and failed. Don't pray to him. Pray to the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall not fail, God said,
or be discouraged. I like that. He will not even
be discouraged. They tried and tried to hinder
him, didn't they? They tried to kill him. Oh, don't
you love those stories where they tried to apprehend him.
They couldn't. They couldn't. He passed right
through. They take him to the brow of
the hill. They say, you got him? Yeah, I got him. We've got him
now. But you had him. Oh, no, he said,
no man taketh my life from me. No man taketh my sheep from me.
No man taketh my glory from me. He shall not fail, he shall not
be discouraged. They said to him, Lord, don't
go to Jerusalem, they'll kill you. That's why I came. And it says, John, he said, he
set his face like a flint toward Jerusalem. For this cause
came I in the world. No man takes my life, no man
lets me, hinders me, does anything. I'm here to do something, and
I'm going to do it. Nothing's going to hinder me."
And he was not discouraged in any way. He knew that he was
going to succeed. And he did. And nor should we be discouraged.
Take courage. It's said over and over again
through the Scriptures. Be of good courage and he shall
strengthen thy heart. Be of good courage. Do not be
discouraged. Look to him. He was not discouraged,
until he hath set judgment in the earth, the uttermost part
of the earth, and the isles, or most of the reaches, or the
furthermost reaches of the earth, shall wait for his law, and shall
receive it. Say, Our Lord, the last thing
he said before he went to glory, he told his disciples, Go to
all the world. Do you realize how far removed
we are from Jerusalem, Israel? This was God Almighty's decree
to go in all the world. You know what it took to get
the gospel to this little town. And just at the right, when we're
living, Nancy, the gospel's here. It doesn't stay in one place
very long. And it's not in every city. It comes where God sends
it. Aren't we blessed? God says,
go to the uttermost parts of the earth, go under the little
town, not Los Angeles, California, but Rocky Mount, Virginia, of
all places, and put and establish a church there where my gospel
is preached, that I might call you my children. In the fullness
of time, here we are. And the verdict. All come to God. All right, stand
with. Our Lord and our God, thank you
for sending your servant. We think we know a little more
fully now what who Christ is and why came and Lord, enable
us to behold Him. Enable us to look to Him and
be saved. The ends of the earth. Enable
us at all times to look to Him for assurance, for comfort, for
consolation. He who sits at the right hand
of the Majesty on high, reigning and ruling, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Savior, Advocate of sinners. Enable us, O Lord, to behold
Him. It's in His name we've met tonight for His glory. Amen.