Matthew chapter 12. Beginning with verse 18 with
me. Now, our Lord has recorded this again in reference to Christ
here in Matthew chapter twelve. Let's let's start up in verse
fourteen. Our Lord had healed a man with a withered hand, much
to the to the anger of the Pharisees. And in verse fourteen, the Pharisees
went out after that and held a council against him, how they
might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew
himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him, and
he healed them all. And he charged them that they
would not make him known, that is, not go out and publish his
name, that it might be fulfilled," he did this on purpose, that
it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet,
saying, Behold my servant, behold my servant. Now the earth has
never known a man like this man, never, never ever again will
the earth see a man like this man until the Lord comes back.
He is all-powerful, completely faithful to God and to men, sinless
in thought, word and deed, strong, bold, courageous, wise, all-wise,
true, loving, compassionate, tender, kind, merciful, every
wonderful and good adjective you could place beside him, every
attribute you could place beside him. And there's none like him
before or since. And God says, Behold my servant.
Just think about it a minute. A man approved of God. The only
time that God ever said he approved of a man. A man approved of God.
And he says here, God says, I've chosen him. I like the song that
Nancy wrote concerning one chosen out from among the people. God
has chosen Christ to be his his vicar on earth, his representative,
his lamb, his substitute, his redeemer, his savior, his chosen
one. He calls him, my beloved, the
only begotten well-beloved, well-pleasing. He says, in whom my soul. God
says my soul is well-pleased with this man. He said that from
heaven audibly about the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'm well
pleased with him. Never had that been said before.
And he said, God said, I'll put my Spirit upon him without reservation,
full measure. The full measure of the Holy
Spirit was in Christ. He was the Spirit. He is the
Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. And it says, he shall show judgment
or justice to the Gentiles. You could say that he justified
many, many Gentiles. And it says in verse 19 there,
it says, he shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man
hear his voice in the streets. He didn't do much, he didn't
come with pomp and show when he came to this earth. He quietly
went about his father's business. He had a mission to fulfill,
and it wasn't to set up an earthly kingdom. He said, no, if it were,
my servants would fight. He would have come on a white
horse in great pomp and show, but that wasn't his mission here. His mission was a sure and certain
one, and it was a spiritual one. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom,
and he came down to quietly without great show, call out his people
one by one. You know, he walked in variously,
I must go here, I must go there, seeking out one sheep, going
out in the wilderness to find one sheep. Come on. Sometimes
he would cry with a loud voice. They were dead and stinking like
Lazarus. Other times he called with a quiet voice. But he went
about his business quietly, calling about his sheep as one in charge,
not concerned that He was going to fail or be discouraged, but
he knew where he had to go, who he had to call, and what he was
going to do. And he didn't have to go with great show. Quiet
confidence. Quiet confidence. We see him,
he said, behold my servant. We see him who made heaven itself,
though, without a place to call his own, without a roof over
his head. He said the fox had their dens,
the birds of the air had their nests, the son of man, he doesn't
have any place to lay his head. We see him who is worshipped
by angels being mocked and abused by men. And he who reigns over
all and rules with all authority over the inhabitants of the earth
and the armies of heaven, we see him being tempted and tried
by Satan, this puny little being that he made himself. And he
who created the earth and everything in it, and the universe, naked
and hungry and cold, under trying circumstances, the Lord says,
Behold, my servant, think about this. And he who dwelled with
God in all happiness before time began, dwelled with the Father
alone and sad and troubled. And all of this our Lord voluntarily
went through. He did not have to do these things. He did not have to come down
here. He did not have to subject himself to these things, but
he did. The scripture there in John 11,
where our Lord went to where Lazarus was entombed, it says
he groaned and was troubled. And the margin, if you'll read
it, says he troubled himself. All these things he did voluntarily,
he troubled himself, that he might be, for many reasons, but
that he might be touched for the feeling of our infirmities.
All of this our Lord withstood because there were some people
that he loved, and I think many of them are in here this evening.
Some people he loved that would go through some of the very same
things and would be exposed to some of the things he went through.
And our Lord here recorded twice
in the scriptures, one verse here, we come to it now in verse
twenty, he recorded this twice in scriptures, his dealings in
tender mercy and compassion with two types of people. Now this
should be a message of real comfort to you if you'll give me your
attention, if God will help us for a little while here. I believe
it will be a message of comfort to you, especially if you feel
yourself to be weak. He says in verse 20, and this
is recorded twice. You know, one time is enough
for us to pay close attention. But when something is recorded
twice in the Scriptures, like barely, barely. So let's listen
to it. He says in verse 20, a bruised
reed shall he not break. and smoking flax shall he not
quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory." A bruised reed
and smoking flax. Now this represents two types
of people here. I believe the bruised reed, or
a broken stick in other words, I believe that represents a sinner
or someone under conviction or under severe trial. possibly
be a believer under severe trial. And then the smoking flax, that's
none other than a candle, a smoking candle. I believe this represents
a believer who is out of fellowship with Christ, one who is under a heavy sense
of guilt or depression and no real communion with God at the
present time. Now, one of these two should
touch somebody in here. It should touch somebody. A bruised reed or smoking flax.
Now, first thing I want you to notice about these two things.
A bruised reed, a broken stick, and a smoking flax. First of
all, they're weak things. Very weak things. A reed. There's nothing—a reed. You know, the Scripture said
that the Lord would grow up as a root out of dry ground, or
a reed, a little tender plant. There's nothing more tender than
a little tender shoot or sprout that comes up out of the ground,
a little twig. And it's easily bruised, and it's seemingly broken
by the slightest wind that comes along, isn't it? The slightest
little bit of inclement weather, that little twig will just fall
over. And then there's smoking flax or a candle. There's a little
bit of spark there. You all, many of you have lit
candles, you know, only to have them not burn very well. The
tallow, is that what you call it? It's not, there hadn't been
trims, and it just smokes, it doesn't really burn, it just
puts off an odor. There's a little bit of spark
there, a little bit of heat, but the slightest little bit
of dampness, a little bit of rain that comes along, a little
bit of moisture, a little breeze that comes along will put that
out in a minute. And Christ said, a bruised reed I'll not break.
And I ask you, is there anybody that feels weak
here tonight, like a weak believer, just a weak believer? You know,
there's some people that seem to be very strong, strong in
faith and works. You know, there's some people
like that. I don't want to call any names, but there's some people
in here that I feel like have a true, real grasp on the gospel
and seem to be strong in faith and seem to be unmoved by trials
and so forth. But the majority of believers,
I believe, are very tender and very weak and very fragile. And somebody said, like blackbirds,
easily startled, you know. And Christ called them a fearful
flock. He said, fear not, little flock, didn't He? You know, if
temptations—you may feel like one of these people—if temptations
come, you easily fall into it, don't you? I mean, the slightest
little thing come along, you just fall right into it. If trials
come, they overwhelm you. Oh, they stump your toe when
you're ready to quit, you know. And I ask you, is this anybody
in here? Anybody? If you say this, I would,
but I cannot pray. I would, but I cannot sing. I would, but I can't even believe. I can't seem to do anything,
as some people do. I just feel worthless. Listen
to this poem. How weak and frail am I. What
enemies I have within. Lord, save me is my cry from
falling in sin. So weak I cannot stand without
thy mighty power. There's nothing but thy mighty
hand can keep me every hour. Sin is in my evil heart. Satan
is working there. From Christ, he would make me
depart and drive me to despair. But blessed be his name, he will
not leave me so. Though sin will strive, yet grace
must reign to save me from this woe. Though I so weak and found,
yet Christ is Lord of all, and if in His hands I am found, to
hell I cannot fall." Are you weak? We sung that song. Are you weak? Are you weary? Does the way seem long? But Christ
said, a bruised reed he'll not allow to be broken, not by trial,
not by temptation, not by anything, not by law. Not by anything. And smoking flax, he'll not quench. These things are, first of all,
weak things. And secondly, they're worthless. There's nothing more
worthless than these two things. Anything more worthless than
broken sticks, the only thing they're good for, really, is
kindling, aren't they? Broken sticks, you can't lean
upon them, you can't trust them, you can't build anything with
them. Kind of remind me of these handyman studs you buy. at the
lumber store, you know. They're not quite stud length,
and they're worthless. Knots in them. They're no good.
They're twisted, cut, all sorts of things. No good. Can't build
anything with them. That'd be a doghouse. Broken
twigs, broken sticks, broken reed. How about a smoking candle? There's no light, no heat. It's
good for nothing. Good for nothing. Do you ever
say that about yourself? I'm good for nothing. Who needs
me? I'm good for nothing. The preacher
has his duties. The teachers have theirs. The
song leader, they're doing good. I'm no use to anybody. You ever
say that? You say, I can't preach. I can't pray. I can't sing. I
can't give. I can't give much money. I can't
seem to witness. I'm sure the Lord's going to
pluck me up and just You know, like that tree that encumbered
the ground, that the Lord said he's going to dig a little while,
you say, surely he's going to pluck me out of here and just throw
me away. That's all I'm fit for. Is that anybody in here? He's
done with me, you might say. He's done with me. I'm no good
to anybody. You may think, though, that if you were like Paul or
Peter, that you could do some great things, that if you had
great faith, that you'd be in a better condition. That's not
the grace of God at all. It doesn't have anything to do
with your great faith. He said mustard seed faith, didn't
he? And there's a seed. There's a
seed in that plant. It looks dead sometimes, doesn't
it? It looks dead, but there's life in it. A bruised reed, he
said, though worthless, or smoking flax, though worthless. See,
he wouldn't throw them out. And secondly, they're worthless
things. They're offensive things. A bruised reed and smoking flax,
they're offensive things. A bruised reed. You musicians,
you know something about wind instruments. You put reeds in
them, like a clarinet or whatever. If you've got a broken reed,
that instrument's going to put forth a foul sound, isn't it?
It's going to have a terrible squeaking, gawking sound. A terrible
thing. It'll spoil the melody, you know. And in their smoking flax, there's
nothing more offensive than something that smolders and burns, like
a cigarette or even a candle, you know. Something smoldering. It's not putting out any light.
It's not putting out any heat. It's just smoking, you know.
Just filling up the room with obnoxious odors. And I ask you,
do you feel offensive? You feel offensive to God and
yourself and everybody else. Maybe there's somebody in here,
a lady, that you feel like you don't belong
anymore or something. You feel like you don't have
any right to be here. You feel loathsome to God, to
yourself, to everybody else who used to be a part of things,
perhaps. feel more so a part of things, but now you don't
feel so much a part of things. Maybe some man in here is living
with a terrible load of guilt over something he's done, and it continually plagues you
and you're broken by it. Christ said, a bruised wreath
and smoking flax he wouldn't quench. He said, you'll not be
utterly broken or utterly or completely quenched. Like that
illustration I was trying to give about the bruised wreath,
you may be at times putting out a bad sound, bitterness and murmuring
and complaining and so forth. But Christ can take that bruised
wreath and He can fix it. He can put a new wreath in there
and He can make you sing His praises. Again, you know, you
may have it one time or another, but now you feel like you're
putting out a bad sound. You're spoiling the melody around
here. Somebody may say, well, who's
that singing over there, singing the loudest, singing the sweetest? Somebody say, well, that's Mary
Magdalene. She used to be a broken wreath. That's the thief on the
cross. That's old Saul of Tarsus. or smoking flats, somebody now
who only sits in smolders and sulks. You know, this happens. People get disgruntled with whoever.
They get put out with somebody in the congregation or some little
hang-up about something here or something there or somebody,
particularly the preacher. It's most often it happens this
way. They smolder and sulk and pout
and gossip and talk like a smoking candle, you know, just putting
forth obnoxious odors. Not good to anybody. Just obnoxious
odors. Well, Christ can rekindle a fire.
he can rekindle a fire with the Word of God. Generally that happens
when there's nothing inside. Somebody said an empty can will
usually make the loudest noise. And usually this happens, this
silking and smoldering and pouting and gossiping and so forth happens
when this person has lost communion with God. If God can rekindle that fire,
He can rekindle that fire for the Word and that zeal for the
glory of God, for the truth, and make you a necessary part
of the body of Christ. He can fix that broken wreath
and make you sing once again, a happy melody, not a sour note.
He can rekindle that flame, that first love that you've left,
and make you burn bright, put out some heat, help somebody
instead of hinder somebody. Well, look at the promise here.
He says, a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax
shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment, justice
unto victory. Justice unto victory. I ask, is there a bruised reed
in here? God's word convicts you. You're
under a deep sense of sin that seems like there's no hope. You
pray for deliverance. It doesn't seem to be the answer.
No relief in sight. And you say, if this continues,
I'll be broken for good. I'm not going to be able to stand
this any longer. My heart will break if I face one more trial. If I have to deal with my sin
anymore, I'm going to break." Well, the promise comes. You won't break. And it'll break
your heart, yes, but he'll send forth justice and judgment, justifying
grace and faith in Christ to victory, to victory. He says,
fear not. Conviction won't break you. Trials
won't break you, but it'll melt that sin-hardened heart. It'll
melt that heart of stone and bring you to Christ, totally
dependent upon Him. I asked you if any smoking candles
in here. He used to get a lot of happiness
out of the Word of God. You used to enjoy the worship
service, the reading of God's Word. It used to be sweet to
you. Praying, you could enter into
prayer. The preaching of the gospel was very sweet, but it
lost its sweetness. And the singing, just as soon it would be over
with. And now, perhaps you can only
say, surely God's left me alone. Surely, I'm the only apostate
here. I'm the only Judas. I'm the only
one. I hope there's no one in here
like that, but if there's just one, this message is for you. It's not much. It's not very
loud. Christ wasn't very loud. It's
still a small voice, I hope, speaking to somebody. And I ask you, is there any smoking
candles in here? Anybody putting off an obnoxious
odor? And you might say with Job, Oh,
that I were as in months past. You ever said that? I wish I
was like I used to be. I used to enjoy myself. I used
to be of some... I don't know. But, according to the text here,
You're going to say with Job later on in victory, you're going
to say, I know my Redeemer living. And though he slay me, yet will
I trust him. You know that prodigal son, he fell
about as far as he could and he got about as loathsome to
himself eating those husks. Empty shell of religion is what
that represented. That's about all he had was the
shell. He fell about as far as he could in a sin and a dishonor. And he thought, there's no way
my dad's going to take me back. I don't deserve it. My old friends. But the father had some special
things for that boy, didn't he? He was waiting on his return.
He was waiting to be gracious. A son can never be disowned by
the Father. Never. A son is always a son.
If a son, always a son. And the God the Father never
disowns one of his sons. Never. Christ the head is never
going to cut off a member of his body. See, they're all one
member. And because this one says, I'm
not this one, and this one says, I'm not that one, they can't
say, I don't have any need of you. Christ doesn't say that. And that weak little black lamb
over there, the black sheep of the family, you know, he's still
a sheep and he's still in the family. He's weak, all right. But the shepherd nurses the weakest
ones. He picks the weakest ones up
on his shoulder and takes them all the way home. He carries
the weakest ones. So what you need to do, what
I need to do, if we're in this condition, Cry out to the shepherd to pick us up again. Cry out
to our God who is consuming fire to light that fire again in us,
to kindle that flame. Cry out to the mender of hearts,
the great physician, to heal this little broken twig, this
little tender shoot that has fallen over under every trial. You know, John the Baptist, our
Lord said that John the Baptist, I'm purposely dealing with this
message in this way. John the Baptist, the greatest
man born of woman, according to our Lord. When he was in prison,
he sent two disciples down to the Lord. And you know, he was
There, for a while, he was pretty confident of the Lord. He pointed
to the Lord and said, Behold the Lamb of God. He told his
disciples, Follow him. There he is. But then trials
came. The greatest man on earth, according
to the Lord. And he was down there in prison,
a dark, damp place, under severe trials. And he began to doubt. John the Baptist began to doubt. if that was really the Christ.
The harbinger, the messenger, the forerunner of Christ Himself
began to doubt. Is that Him? I don't know. I don't know if I believe Him
or not. And He sent two of His disciples
down there and He said, ask Him, ask this Jesus, are You the One
or do we look for another? And Christ said, you tell John, Let the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised, and poor sinners are hearing the good news preached
to them. You tell John, I'm bringing them all in, smoking flax and
all, bruised reeds and all. You tell all those bruised reeds
that they'll never be broken. And those smoking candles, that
I'll rekindle them. You tell them that. That's the
purpose I came. They'll never perish. Never. Listen to this poem. How soft the words of my Savior
as He speaks. How kind the promises He makes. You know, if I speak loud, I
speak soft. It makes no difference, unless Christ speaks. How spoff
the words my Savior speaks, how kind the promises he makes! A
bruised reed he never breaks, nor will he quench the smoking
flax. The humble poor he'll not despise,
nor on the contrite sinner frown. His ears open to their cries,
and quickly sends salvation down. He sees the struggles that prevail. between the powers of grace and
sin. And he kindly listens while they
tell the bitter pains they feel within. Though pressed with fears
on every side, they know not how the strife may end. Yet he
will soon the cause decide, and judgment unto victory, sin. I don't know if this was meant
for anybody or not. I've been through it. I know we all get in a bad shape.
We all get in a bad way, you know. But the promise comes that you'll
not stay there. If you're one of God's sheep,
I'm confident of this, that He has begun a good work in you.
He'll finish it. He'll finish it. He'll not allow
you to be totally broken by whatever it is you're going through. Nor
will He allow you to mess things up. Thank you.