read to you, I want to begin by asking you three questions about it. Number one, who is meant by this servant? It says right at the beginning of verse one in chapter 42 of Isaiah, behold my servant. Who is this servant? Who is this servant?

Now there's a sense in which we're all the servants of the Lord. Everyone serves the purpose for which God made us. The angels are His servants. All mankind are His servants. And His people are His servants. The psalmist says, serve the Lord with gladness. We're His servants. He made us. He provides for us. So let us serve Him. Let us be a servant who is thankful and a servant who renders faithful service unto our Lord.

But this servant that's being spoken of here in verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 42 is a very special servant. In fact, God called him, my servant. This is God's very personal servant. The title of the message is God's Personal Servant.

Well, to find the answer to this first question, who is meant by the servant, we go to the New Testament. So hold your place here in Isaiah 42 and go with me to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. Let's find out who this servant is that God the Father says is my servant. He's God's personal servant.

Matthew chapter 12. Our Lord Jesus in the context I'm going to read to you has healed a man who had a withered hand. And the Lord touched him and made him well. You'll see that in chapter 12 of Matthew, verse 13. Then said he, that is the master, then said he to the man, stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth and it was restored whole like the other. Our Savior's the great physician. He not only heals those who are physically ill or physically maimed, physically handicapped, He saves those who are spiritually maimed and handicapped. He heals those who are spiritually diseased. So He restored the man's hand whole.

Verse 14. And then the Pharisees went out, the Pharisees being a very religious group who had no use for the Savior. They were his enemies. They went out and held a council against him, and the council was about this, how they might destroy him. They hunted and hounded our Lord Jesus all the days of his ministry. And he performs this miracle and now they're after him again.

Verse 15. But when Jesus knew, you see the word it is italicized. It's inserted by the translators and there's nothing wrong with that, but the idea is he knew everything that was going on. He knew their thoughts. He knew their intentions. He knew what they wanted to do. He knew what they spoke about in that council they held, how that they wanted to destroy Him. So He knew. And He withdrew Himself from thence. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all by His omnipotent mercy. And then He charged them that they should not make Him known.

If you remember back in the passage of Scripture I read, in fact, hold this place and go back there real quick. Back in Isaiah 42, look at verse 2. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. He didn't advertise the healings. He sent people, when he healed somebody, he sent them away and said, don't talk about this. Because He's not going to broadcast it out. The person who received the healing and those who were witnesses were witnesses enough without others being told. He didn't want them to go out and say, did you hear what Jesus of Nazareth did to me? No. He kept it low key. So that goes right along with the passage there in Isaiah 42. And verse 2, let's go back to Matthew 12. So in verse 15, when Jesus knew, He withdrew Himself from thence, and great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. And He charged them that they should not make Him known.

Now watch this, verse 17. that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah or Esaias, the prophet, saying, and you'll recognize this because what we just read there in Isaiah chapter 42. Behold my servant, whom I have chosen. Isaiah records the word of the Lord, my elect. Here in the Greek it's translated, behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, and whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show or manifest judgment to the Gentiles. He'll justify Gentiles. He'll declare them to be righteous through his own imputed righteousness, which he established by his death upon the cross of Calvary.

Look at verse 19. He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. That is, our Lord won't go through the streets boasting about the good works that he had done. He even told those who were recipients of the healing, don't go out and broadcast what I've done.

Verse 20. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment or justice unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

So the first question, who is meant by my servant? That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God's servant. And this isn't the only time, you can go back to Isaiah 90, isn't the only time that our Lord Jesus is referred to as God's servant.

In Isaiah, look at Isaiah chapter 52. Isaiah chapter 52. You see, the Son of God He veiled His deity with human flesh. He said in Hebrews 10, a body thou hast prepared me. So He veiled His deity with that body that God prepared for Him. And in that body He came to save sinners by sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary. And He is identified by Jehovah as being My servant. Behold My servant.

Look here in Isaiah 52 and verse 13. God says, behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall deal in wisdom. He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. My servant, God says, he's my servant. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ, he came, remember he told his disciples one time, I came not to be ministered to, but to minister. In other words, he was saying, I didn't come for you to be a servant to me. I came to be of service to you. And he did serve sinners by his life and by his death.

But first and foremost, he was God's servant. He was sent on a mission. He was sent to perform a work. He came to this world on purpose, not to try to do something, not to just show people that he was a good man or just to heal people of their physical ailments, but he came to accomplish Jehovah's purpose to save sinners by his sacrifice upon the cross. He came on a mission of mercy. He's God's ambassador. That's who Jesus Christ is. And God said, He's my servant, my servant.

Look over in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, speaking about this same servant. God says in verse 12 of chapter 53, Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, And he shall divide the spoiled with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bared the sin of many, and made intercession for sinners."

Now let me show you how the Father refers to him. Look at the previous verse, verse 11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered. He travailed on the cross of Calvary. He travailed in His soul, within His heart. Bearing our sins in His own body, He therefore labored under the wrath of God to endure that which God was inflicting upon Him. He shall see the travail of His soul, verse 11, and shall be satisfied.

Now watch this. By His knowledge, by his knowledge. That is, by the knowledge he had of the purpose of God, of God's redemptive will, of what God demanded in order to save sinners, by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. He's the only truly righteous servant in and of Himself that Jehovah has ever had. No wonder that the Father referred to Him as, My Servant. My Servant.

So go back to our text then. This Servant of Jehovah is none other than the Son of God in human flesh.

Well, the second question I want to ask you from this first verse of scripture is, who is speaking here in Isaiah chapter 42? We say it was Isaiah. Well, Isaiah was the one who wrote the words. Isaiah was the one who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to record this in the word of God. But these are not the words of the prophet. These are the words of the father. We're privileged to hear the words of the father concerning his son. And he speaks here of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the works of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He says, behold, my servant, this is God talking. If there's ever any time we ought to pay attention to what's being said, it's when God says something. I know the whole Bible is the Word of God. I know that. It's all inspired. Holy men of God wrote as they were led by the Holy Spirit. But when God Himself has something to say, when He has something to say about His Son, we would be very wise to pay attention. And here's what God says, behold my servant, behold my personal servant, behold him, look to him. That's what God says. That's God's command. That's God's command to the sinner and to the saint. That's God's command to the unbeliever and the believer. Behold My servant, look to Him. Focus on Him. This is not a passing glance. You see, that's the way most people look at the Lord Jesus Christ, is just to glance at Him. They glance at Him at Christmas. Folks, glance at Him at Easter. But they don't really focus in on Him. They don't do what God the Father says for us to do. Behold Him. Give your full attention to my darling Son.

And I'll ask you, how much attention do you give Him? How much attention do I give Him? How do I look to Christ? Do I look to Him with a longing heart? Do I look to Him as a needy sinner? Do I look to Him who has no righteousness but needs the righteousness of God, which is only found in Him? Or do I just give a passing look?

See, that's the way most of the people who were at Calvary observing all that happened when our Lord Jesus was crucified. It was just a passing glance. The Scripture says, sitting down, they watched Him there. They watched for a while, and then they had other things to get ready to do. They're busy people. I have a lot of people tell me, I just don't have time to come to church. I don't have time to hear. Shame on you. Shame on you. That's the evidence of your own depravity. You see, it's our sinfulness that has made us blind, blind, blind to the glories of Christ. It's our own sinfulness that's made us deaf, deaf, deaf to His Word. Look and live, the scripture says. John the Baptist went forth preaching, behold the Lamb of God. I'm sorry, I don't have time, preacher. I know that's your message, John the Baptist, but I just don't have time to look. Oh, I'll give him a passing glance every once in a while, and maybe before I die, maybe then I'll take another look at him in the Bible.

Hear this. Word of command from our God. Behold, you, you, you, everybody out there, everybody who's watching, me too, behold, look, focus in on, direct your full heart's attention upon my son, my servant, whom I sent into the world to save sinners by his death upon the cross of Calvary.

The speaker is God. He speaks of His Son, and He begins by giving to us a command. He says, Behold My servant. What a command. What an admonition. God says to all of us, Behold My servant, My personal servant. Behold Him with the eye of faith. To behold Him, you see, is to trust Him. It's to believe Him. It's to rest in Him. Behold Him with an admiring heart. To behold Him is to see in Him all your spiritual needs. to be fulfilled and supplied. I promise you, whatever your soul needs, there's only one who can meet those needs. Behold God's servant. Behold God's servant. His personal servant.

He didn't send angels down here to redeem us. They couldn't redeem us. Because the redeemer had to be, first of all, God, knowing the demands of God. And he had to be man. They didn't send angels. He didn't send the finest person who's ever lived in this world. He didn't send like an Abraham or somebody like that to die for us. Because Abraham, you see, though he was a man of faith, he was a sinner just like you. Just like you. But he sent one whom God identifies as mine elect. God chose him. God appointed him, God ordained him to come. He came to do the Father's redemptive will.

And I say, behold him with a grateful memory, with a grateful memory. You who know him, or rather who are known of him, You who have been brought to believe Him, to rest your soul's salvation in Him, look, behold God's servant with a thankful memory. Remember the hole from which you were digged. Isaiah even quotes the Lord who said that. Remember where you were when God found you? sunk deep in the miry clay. No interest in God, no interest in Christ, no interest in God's salvation, no interest in righteousness. Do you remember where you were when He found you? You didn't find Him, He found you. You were the sheep that had gone astray. He sought you. He rescued you. He delivered you. He quickened you. Remember? Remember?

Behold God's personal servant. The father calls him my servant. You see, this servant of God is equal with God. He is God. He is God. Behold His condescension. Read at your leisure Philippians, the second chapter. He humbled Himself. He became a servant in order to redeem those of us who were the servants of sin. He was Jehovah's servant. Took our nature, took our manhood into union with His deity. He came as the personal servant of the God who made all things. Surely you're interested in God's personal servant. And yet, few people are. And you won't really be interested from your heart apart from a work of grace done by the Holy Spirit within your heart.

The Father calls him my servant. And God the Father called him, notice here in verse one, whom I uphold. Did you know that God upheld the Lord Jesus when he was in this world? There are two meanings to this word uphold. One is he kept him propped up. So I thought Jesus was God. He was God. But he never performed a miracle for himself. He performed miracles for others. I read to you how that there in Matthew 12 he healed a man with a withered hand. And then once He left there, they brought multitudes to Him. He healed them of all of their diseases, but He did not perform a miracle to deliver Himself from His enemies. The Father upheld Him.

But the word here, whom I uphold. It also carries a meaning of the one I lean on. Did you know God leaned on Christ? The whole purpose of God's eternal salvation all that had to be done to save us poor sinners, the Father leaned on His Son to accomplish the fullness of the work. He leaned fully on Him. The glory of God rested upon and leaned upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Savior was up to the task.

In Ephesians chapter 1. In fact, just look over there with me. Ephesians chapter 1. Let me show you this verse of scripture. Ephesians 1, 11 and 12. Ephesians 1, verses 11 and 12. In whom, that is in Christ. Also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ.

Now that raises a question. Who first trusted in Christ? Or I'll put it this way, and you'll better understand, who first leaned on Christ? Who first rested His eternal purpose of salvation upon the Lord Jesus Christ? The Father did. The Spirit did. All three persons of the Trinity involved in salvation certainly, but only one person of the Trinity clothed his deity with human flesh and suffered and bled and died as the God-man, as the Savior, as the Lord Jesus Christ. God leaned on him.

Oh God, let me lean on the same one you lean on. Let me look to Him, your personal servant, the one to whom you looked to fulfill your demands of accomplishing salvation. He says over here in our text, God called him mine elect. God chose him. He chose him and then He chose us in Him. Don't be afraid of the word elect or election in the Bible. That's a perfectly good Bible word. The first of God's elect was the Lord Jesus. And you'll notice in verse one of chapter 42 of Isaiah, God called him my elect. He's my elect. He's my servant. He's my elect. He's the one I chose.

In Psalm 89, it says, I have chosen one out of the people. He was considered to be as one of all the people of God, the son of God. And God says, that's the one I choose. And he had to choose him because there was no other one who was the son of God. And no other one could accomplish the task of our salvation. And then it says, whom I uphold, mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth. God was well pleased with him. As the God-man, he was set up and foreordained before the world began. He was chosen to be the mediator, the sacrifice that God would accept, the head of an elect race.

One hymn writer wrote this. He said, Christ be my first elect, God said, then chose our souls in Christ our head. Before he gave the mountains birth or laid foundations for the earth, thus did eternal love begin to raise us up from death and sin. Before we sinned in Adam, The Lord had already chosen a suitable substitute to die in our stead. This is the one God upheld. God sustained him. This is the one that says here that he put his spirit upon him. He had the spirit of God without measure. And the Spirit was publicly manifesting Himself when our Lord Jesus was baptized. And therefore, when we baptize, we baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit witnessed His baptism. It says, He shall bring forth righteousness or judgment to the Gentiles. He kept God's law.

Now folks, let's be honest. We're just a bunch of lawbreakers. That's right. Whether you acknowledge that or not, you're a sinner. You're not a sinner because you feel like it. You're not a sinner because I said you are. You're a sinner because God says you are. I'm a sinner because God says I am. I may not feel it, I may not realize it, but that doesn't change the fact of it. I'm a sinner. Christ came to restore chosen sinners to God.

And yes, my friends, those whom God saves are chosen sinners. The Savior was chosen, and the sinners that He saves They were chosen in the election of grace. Remember this. Election unto salvation is not your enemy. It's your friend. Because if God hadn't chosen you, you'd still be lost in your sinfulness. Attribute your salvation to the very one who saved you by his personal servant, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at his unassuming nature, verse 2. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. Hey, let me ask you something. When the Pharisees were here, do you remember reading that they prayed on the street corner? drawing attention to themselves. You know where our Lord went to pray? Up on a mountain. By Himself. By Himself.

And in verse 3, Behold His tenderness and compassion. A bruised reed shall they not break. Ever feel like you're a bruised reed? and you feel like you're going to break, He'll make sure you don't break. Oh, the winds of adversity may blow really hard, but you won't break, because the salvation that God has given you is God's own work.

And the smoking flax shall not quench. You say, well, I know the Lord has lit a fire within me that burns for the glory of God and enlightens me and I love his gospel, but I tell you sometimes, Jim, I just, I feel like I'm burning out. You ever feel cold spiritually? Come on now. I'll tell you this, that life God has put in your soul, Nobody can blow it out, not you or anybody else. It's an everlasting life.

And verse 4 says, he shall not fail. He shall not, he never has failed and he never will fail. He did not fail to redeem his people from the bondage of the law. The law held us ransom. He paid our ransom price. He did not fail to impute or charge to our account perfect righteousness. He didn't fail to do that. He did not fail to send the gospel of glad tidings of successful Redeemer and His work of redemption. He did not fail in sending that message to us.

And He did not fail to open our hearts to the truth and open our eyes and open our ears. He did not fail to quicken us when we were dead in trespasses and sins. And He will not fail to safely take us home to glory. And before that, He will not fail to accompany us all through our pilgrimage on this earth. And he will not fail to constantly be our advocate in heaven, our great high priest.

And he will not fail to take us home to heaven when our life here on earth ends. And he will not fail to raise our vile bodies and make them like his glorious body someday in the resurrection. And He will not fail to present us as trophies of His grace to the Father. He will say, Behold, Father, I am the brethren Thou hast given Me. And He will present us to God faultless, without blame, in perfect righteousness, a righteousness with which He Himself clothed us. And then, 1 Corinthians 15 says, then comes the end when he presents us to the Father. And who will get all the glory? God's servant will. For he's the one who saved us by his marvelous grace.

This morning we're gonna partake of the Lord's Supper. And this is a special time. I know several times during the year we partake of the Lord's Supper. I don't want it to ever become a ritual to us. This is a remembrance of our Savior's death, burial, and resurrection. He only left two ordinances, one's baptism and the other one's of the Lord's Supper, and it pictures the truth of substitution and satisfaction. I don't want it to become a ceremony. I know some churches have it every Sunday. I'm not going to argue with them. We have it usually every fifth Sunday. November was a busy month, I'd set aside this Sunday. But as often as we do it, we do it in remembrance of our Savior.

He only left two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both picture his substitutionary death upon the cross of Calvary. And I'll tell you what I wish. And my wish can't come true. But I wish all of us could take the Lord's Supper. I wish we were all qualified, but we're not. I don't believe. Because you see, the Lord's Supper is for the children of God. It's for sinners who rest in, lean on, trust, hug up to the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you do, but I'm afraid some don't. And if you don't believe Him, this is not something that you want to partake of. There's a warning in 1 Corinthians about that, because that's to partake of the Lord's Supper unworthily. You say, well, nobody's worthy. Well, now wait a minute. We're worthy in Christ. He's our worthiness. And if you don't look to Him, believe on Him, lean on Him, trust Him, you must not partake of the Lord's Supper. Because it's all about Him.

If there's one thing I want people to know about 13th Street Baptist Church and my ministry, just like it was true with Bill and true with Henry, we're all about preaching Christ and His work of redemption. And I want you to believe Him. And I hope you do. I pray that maybe even right now, you know, shame on the Baptists who've made a ceremony out of, well, we're going to sing an invitation song. Come down to the front. Shame on Baptists for ever doing that. I don't want you to come forward. But I do want you to come to Christ. And as Brother Scott Richardson said, don't move a muscle. It's not a physical movement to Him. It's a movement in your soul. Wouldn't it be something? It might be the will of God right now for somebody to come to Christ right now.

Lord, I'm just an old sinner. I got nothing. All I got is sin. That's all I've got. But the preacher said, and the Word of God says that Christ is God's servant. He died for sinners. He lives for sinners. And God Himself said, Behold My servant. Look to Me, Christ said a little further in Isaiah. Look unto Me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth. Behold Me, behold Me, not behold the church. Church can't help you. Preacher can't help you. Nobody else can help you, but I'll tell you whose specialty it is to help the helpless. That's Christ the Lord. And may He be pleased to touch your heart and bring you to lean on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you can remember our Lord's death by partaking of the Lord's Supper. Remember His death with thanksgiving and with meaning. It really means something to you then. You think of One who died for you? Who bore your hell in His soul? The One who saved you by His grace? The One who agonized upon the cross of Calvary? He did all that for me. Yeah, He did. He did it for all His people.

Well, then I'll take this Lord's Supper. I'll eat the bread and give thanks for the body of my Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll drink the wine, remembering that his bloody death washed away all of my trespasses. I'll take the Lord's Supper with thanksgiving. So this is for believers. These men are going to wait on you. The first thing you're going to do is serve you the bread and wait until everybody's served and then I'll read a verse or two and then pray and then we'll all eat together. This is for believers now. Okay, serve the bread.