And it says in verse one, Behold
my servant, my servant, mine elect, whom I uphold. Our Lord Jesus is often called
a servant in the scriptures, many times called a servant.
In fact, He said Himself concerning us. He didn't come to be ministered
unto, but to minister, to serve. And when he washed the apostles'
feet, he said, I'm your Lord and Master, and as you've seen
me do, so do you. He humbled himself to do that.
And you find our Lord Jesus called a servant so many places in the
scriptures. He made himself of no reputation,
took upon him the form of a servant. Form of a servant. And our God
says here, Behold, You look at this servant. I want you to think
about my servant. I want you to consider my servant. My servant. Now, God don't call
just anybody to be His servant. And when He talks about the Lord
Jesus Christ being His servant, He's talking about one who does
everything that the Father wants Him to do and wills for Him to
do. And then the first thing God says about His servant here,
He says, Behold, my servant, mine elect. Now what did he mean? And this is, of course, the Lord
Jesus Christ he's talking about. Whom I uphold, I put my spirit
upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall judge the Gentiles.
He'll bring judgment for the Gentiles. He'll dare all the
judgment of the Gentiles. Behold my elect. Why would God
call Christ his elect? You know, we're called his elect.
We're called His chosen, but here He calls it God's behold
my elect. Our Lord Jesus Christ was God's
first elect. He was chosen of God for particular
things, for particular tasks, for particular works that only
He could do. And if you want, the old hymn
writer says, chosen in Christ our head, God said. And you know, then, you know,
that's where we were chosen. Christ was God's first elect,
and then we were chosen in Him our head. And He was chosen to
be the head of a fallen race, I mean, a particular race, the
head of a chosen race, of people that He loved before the world
ever began. And that's why the Scripture
says we are chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.
When you go through the Scriptures, you find that everything is in
Him, through Him, by Him, And that even everything that happens
in this world is because of God's first delight. And God had a
people here. God had a head. Christ was chosen
to be the head of a particular people. And He loved those people
and Christ came to be the life of those people. To be the nourishment
of those people. To be the life of those people.
To be the bread of those people. To be everything that those people
needed. And God chose Him to be that
to them. To be that to them. And you know
that's why he said over in John 17, all that the Father, you
know, those that the Father has given me, I've given them your
name. I've given them your word. I've given them everything that
I kept them through your name. And so he was chosen in him.
As in Adam, we all die, even so in Christ, that we all be
made alive. Now one of the things that he was chosen to be, and
one reason he was one of God's first elect, he was chosen to
be our surety. Do you know what a surety is?
Look over in Genesis 43, let me show you. A surety is not
somebody that goes in the bank and cosigns for you. You know,
we'll loan you some money, and we'll do this, that, if you have
this to stand good for, and if you have somebody to co-sign
for you. And that way, if you don't make
it, then we can go back on them. This is not what this is talking
about. No, when it talks about Christ, He's the surety of a
better covenant established upon better promises. Now, surety
is one who pages his name. He pages his name. He pledges
his property, he pledges his influence. And he does that that
a certain thing shall be done. My name, I tell you by my name,
I swear by my name that this will be done. And I give all
my property and pledge that this will be done. All the influence
that I have that I'll see this is done. So when we talk about
Christ being our surety, what does His name mean? How much
property does He have? How much influence does he have
with the Father? That's why I could never be surety
for anybody. My name's worthless. No property
worth anything, and I certainly don't have any influence. But
oh, he says, you know, he told him he's a surety of a better
covenant established upon better promises. And a covenant is one
who agrees. to undertake for another who
doesn't have the ability to discharge his own obligations. And before
God, who can discharge his own obligations? Can you discharge
your debt? Can you discharge your sin? Can
you satisfy God's justice? Can you keep His holy law? Can
you be perfect before Him? Can you have a clean hands and
a pure heart? Can you ascend into the holy
hill of God himself? And a surety is one a sponsor,
acting for one who is incompetent to act for himself. I mean, I
mean all of them. But over here, and I said, Genesis
43, here's what happened. Jacob's sons went down into Egypt
to get something to eat because there was a great famine in the
land. They got down there and Joseph
was the one on the throne. He asked, said, you got us brother?
He said, yes, we got a little brother. And he was born after
Joseph was taken. He was Joseph's full brother.
And he says, you bring him back down here into Egypt. He said,
oh, we can't do that. We can't do that. He said, it'll
kill our father. It'll kill our father. And oh,
look what he said in verse 8. Judah said unto Israel his father,
Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may
live and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones.
Now watch this. I'll be sure of thee for him.
Of my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto
thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. That's what Christ said to God
the Father. Huh? If I don't bring all you
gave me into your presence, bring them out of their bondage, bring
them back to you, and set them all before you, And they all
don't see my glory, then you're required of me. He didn't say
required of the son. He didn't say required of Benjamin.
He didn't say required of Jacob. He said required of me. And Judah
is our type of our Lord Jesus Christ the King, out of whom
shallows should come to star in peace forever. And Christ
says, I'll bring them. And if I don't, required of my
hand. You reckon he'll fail? In all,
and I'll tell you something else, he does. Not only was he God's
first elect, he was chosen to be our surety. He was chosen
to be our Savior. To be our Savior. Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he is going to open the door and make
it possible for us to be saved. Is that what it says? Thou shalt
call His name, Jesus, for He shall, shall, shall save His
people from their sins. Oh, and that's what it says down
in verse 4, He shall not fail nor be discouraged. You think
He's going to fail or be discouraged in this task? How many times
did He say, I must? I must. I must. And, oh, beloved, He came to
be our Savior. And over here in Isaiah 45 and
21, look what it says here. And the Scripture says He put
His Spirit upon Him. What did He put His Spirit upon
Him? To set at liberty the bruised, to bring the prisoners out of
jail, them that sat in darkness, to bring them to the light. And
Isaiah 45, 21 says this, Tell ye, bring them near, Let them
take counsel together, who hath declared this from ancient times,
who hath told it from that time. Have not I the Lord? Now listen,
this is what I've told you. This is what whoever else said
this. I am the Lord, and there's no
God else besides me. And this is the thing, a just
God and a Savior. He said, I've told you this.
Nobody else can tell you how they can be a just God and a
Savior at the same time. No other God can be like that. So look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. I'm God and there's none else
beside me. No other God in this world No
other God in this universe could say, I'm a just God and a Savior. And I've told you how it's going
to be. I've told you how I can be just and yet save a sinner. I've told you I can be holy and
not let my holiness down and save those who are unholy. Nobody
else ever said that. And how did He do it? Through
His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, which we'll deal with
in a minute. But look here in Isaiah 42 with me again. Chosen
to be their Savior. And I tell this without a...
I have no qualms in saying this. There's not another place or
person that God will save a sinner by other than Jesus. He's the
only Savior in this world. I don't care what anybody says,
He's the only one. I mean, if you're ever going
to be saved, you're going to hear of Jesus Christ. If you're
ever going to be saved, you're going to hear who He is. If you're
ever going to be saved, you're going to hear what He did. If
you're ever going to be saved, you're going to come to Him God
will not speak to nor be spoken to by any member of the human
race except through Jesus Christ. He says, no man comes unto the
Father but by Me. Don't bring works, don't bring
merit, don't bring worth. Just bring nothing but you as
you are. How are you? Sin from the top of your head
to the sole of your foot. Sin from the inside of your heart
to the outside of your skin. When you sweat, you're sweating
sin. When you think, you're thinking sin. When you feel, you're feeling
sin. When you walk, you're walking
in sin. When you talk, you're talking sin. I'm telling you
that Jesus Christ is the only Savior. Only One. People say, well, all
right, I believe that you can be saved this way, and I believe
you can be saved that way. Well, you're calling God a liar
if you think there's any other way than coming through Jesus
Christ. And it's more than a supernatural
power up there. It's more than just a supreme
being we're going to deal with. He said, I've told you and told
you and told you, and I more than once ever told you this,
that I'm a just God and a Savior. David didn't tell you he was
a just God and a Savior. Moloch didn't tell you he was
a just God and a Savior. Baal didn't say he was a just
God and a Savior. I'm the only one who told you
I could do that. And not only that, but beloved,
look what he says here in verse 2. He shall not cry, nor lift
up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. What does
that mean? He's not going to go around spouting off, you know,
and doing like all these years' folks, putting up great big signs,
going to have a great revival. And all of that. You know, all
the Jews expected Christ to come and people to be able to come
as a great, glorious King in all of His robes and on a big
horse, and come conquering everything and everybody, and everybody
would just stand in awe as He shone in glory, you know, and
just shone like the sun. But, oh no, no, He can't. Meek
and low. He came born of a virgin, laid
in a manger, come in this world as a poor man, lived a poor man,
and died a poor man, rejected and hated and despised of people
in this world. And oh, look what else it says
here. You know, when He comes to save a sinner, a bruised reed
shall He not break. Boy, you're bruised a reed, and
I mean, you know, just a little wind. And he says, and I see
them people, they're bruised, they're broken, and it wouldn't
take much just to absolutely destroy them. He said, I ain't
going to, I'm not going to hurt them. And that smoking flax,
oh my, just a little bit of smoke coming from it. And boy, I tell
you what, I said, you know what I'll do? I'll flame that. I'll be so tender, so gracious,
so kind, and so merciful that I'll save the weakest In fact,
that's the only kind of people He does save. As long as you've got any strength,
He ain't gonna save you. Ain't that right? We're all broken
reeds and bruised reeds and smoking flax. And not only that, beloved,
not only is He the only Savior, but He was chosen to be the only
mediator. There's only one mediator between
God and man. the man, Christ Jesus. Oh my,
that means, beloved, you're going to do business with God. That's
exactly right. You're going to have to do it
through Jesus Christ. Even us right now as believers,
we come to God in Christ's name. We come to God in Christ's merit.
We come to God in Christ's righteousness. We come to God in Christ's work.
We come to God in Christ's person. And then when we talk about He's
Jehovah's servant, this means, beloved, that all persons, all
things, all beings, all events are His servants. There's nothing
in this world that's not the servant of Jesus Christ. Time's
His servant. Every person that's born in this
world is His servant. They're going to do His will.
Every person born in this world, they're under His control. All
things, everything that happens. We'll see that tonight. All things
are yours, he said. All things. All things that happen
in this world. All beings, angels, principalities
or powers, devils or angels. Everything's his servant. You
know that? Sickness is his servant. You
know, we don't like a lot of things going on in this world,
but one thing we do know, that they're in God's hands, that
He raises them up and He sets them down, and ain't nobody does
anything without Christ ordering it, ordaining it, and bringing
it to pass. I believe if I didn't believe
that, I'd run around this world, my fingernails would be chewed
off to the quick. I'd be chugging nerve pills bottle by bottle
full. Or I'd be a drunk or something. I couldn't deal with this world
the way it is. And that's why most folks are.
That's why most folks are. They can't live in this world.
They're always wrapped up in things and drugs and drinking. Sex and pornography and homosex. They got every issue of the sun
to deal with other than their own sin. They can't stand to
be by themselves. Got to have noise going all the
time. A television or a radio. Some kind of noise or somebody
got to be around because they can't stand to be alone. Is that
not right? Prozac Nation. That's what we
are. Just a nervous, rancorous thing,
what's going to happen? Well, I'll tell you something.
Christ, Christ is Jehovah's servant. I'm His servant. You're His servant.
And I'll tell you what, we want to be His servant. We're His
puppets, and He'd just do with us what He would. But I know
this, the President's His servant. That's right. The King of France
is His servant. The Lord's peon on the planet
is His servant. The weather is His servant. Everything
is His servant. Oh, He's Jehovah's servant. He's
the seed of the woman in whom is the sum and substance of all
the exceeding great and precious promises. All the promises of
God are in Him. He made all the promises in Christ. Not only is He the seed of the
woman, but He's the seed of Abraham. Oh, he's the one that Christ
Paul says, you know, that he's talking about not seeds as of
many, but to one seed, which is Christ. And beloved Christ,
he didn't take upon himself the nature of angels, but the seed
of Abraham. As Jehovah's servant, he's the
firstborn. I mean, beloved, he was the only
begotten of the Father, born in time, that in all things he
might have the preeminence. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He is the man, Christ Jesus,
who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. All things that
was made was made by Him, and not was anything made that was
made without Him. He is before all things, and
by Him all things consist. And the Word was made flesh and
sent to dwell among us, and what did we see when we saw it? The
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
of His fullness have we received grace for grace. And then look
with me in Isaiah 53. Oh, not only is He God's elect
servant, our surety Our Savior, our Mediator,
Jehovah's Servant, that everything serves Him. But He's Jehovah's
Righteous Servant. Look down there. Look down there
in verse 11 here of Isaiah 53. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied. And by his knowledge, watch this,
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquity. Now, God calls him here His righteous
servant. His righteous servant. Jehovah's
righteous servant. Now, what does that mean? Well,
when He calls him His righteous servant, He's talking about something
unique about him that's not possible to anybody else on this earth. First of all, he's righteous
in his person. Righteous in his person. His
person. When he was born. In all the
days of his life, he was righteous. God could look on him, and God
in his holy righteousness could look at his law, could look at
his holiness, look at his truth, look at his justice, look at
his love, look at his mercy, look at his compassion, look
at how he treats his fellow man, and he could look at him and
say, you know, he is just like me. He doesn't have a flaw in
him. He's righteous. All the days
of his life. His person was. What about our
person? The scripture says that when
we're born, there's none righteous, no, not one. What's our best
righteousness? What do they call us? Filthy
rags. But Jehovah, he's righteous servant. That's why our Lord says, which
of you convinces me of sin? You would have no problem. I
don't have no problem being convinced what you are. I don't have no
part to convince what I am, but, oh, he said, which of you convinces
me of sin? God made him to be sin who knew
no sin, that we might be made the very righteousness of God
in him. Not only is he righteous in his person, boy, but personally
he was absolutely free from sin. That's something that's hard
for us to grasp, but yet I know it's so. Because sin is so part
and parcel to us. He was personally, he was absolutely
free from sin. He had no sin in his heart, had
no sin in his life. He was completely conformed to
the holy, just, and good law of God. I mean, our Lord Jesus
Christ truly, truly, as a man, when you saw him, you saw a man
who was perfect. Perfect man. In his body he didn't
look like it. And as men looked at him, you
had to see past the flesh. You had to see past what he was
outwardly. You had to see him as God saw
him. God said, this is my servant. This is my righteous servant.
He has no sin. Oh, when my wall looks at him,
it says just. When my justice comes, it says
he's perfect. When my wholeness looked at Him,
He said, He is holy as I am holy. And oh, beloved, not only free
from faults, but He was full of perfection. He fully did everything God required
of Him. In fact, He cheerfully, cheerfully
suffered all God appointed Him to do. That's why God said, In
whom my soul delights. Huh? In whom? My soul delights. Not only was he personally righteous,
but he was officially righteous. What do I mean by that? Well,
he had offices to fulfill, just like us. I have an office to
fulfill. I'm a preacher, a pastor, and I've got responsibilities
in that particular office. I have a responsibility in my
office as a husband. I have responsibilities in my
office as a father. So I have all these responsibilities,
Christ had offices. He had tasks given to him to
do. First of all, he is called a
prophet. Do you reckon he is righteous
in his office as a prophet? You know what a prophet does?
He faithfully delivers God's message. Now, I haven't always
done that, and I don't know anybody that has. But I, Lord Jesus Christ,
He says, the words that I speak, they're not mine, but He is that
sent me. Huh? Oh, I said, God said, I'll
put all my words in His mouth, and He shall speak whatsoever
I command Him to speak. And oh, if you don't hear this
prophet, you're in trouble. They asked God when He comes.
They said, are you that prophet that should come? Oh, He faithfully,
faithfully And then as a priest, he was, oh, what about his office
as a priest? Oh, my. If a priest had a blemish,
they'd put him out of office. If he had a blemish, you couldn't
become a priest. He might have been a son of Levi, might have
been next in line to be the high priest, but if he had any blemish,
you couldn't let him in. He couldn't serve. But, oh, our
Lord Jesus Christ, he fulfilled all righteousness as a priest.
A priest does two things. First off, he offers sacrifice
for the sins of the people. When a man sins, the priest comes
and offers a sacrifice for him. Secondly, he comes back out from
the presence of God, and while he's in there, he intercedes
for the people. He comes back out and lets them know that their
sins are gone. He goes to God for them, comes
out from God to them. And what about our Lord Jesus
Christ? Now you keep Isaiah 53 and look in Hebrews 9 with me
just a moment. Hebrews 9. You know, you're talking about the
most ridiculous thing on the top side of God's earth for a
man to call himself a priest. They want to be called Father?
And yet they wear robes, they produce no children. Oh, what a thing to call themselves
a priest. Go to a priest. And that's what
they go to a priest for, to get their sins forgiven. And if they
can get a priest to a fellow before he dies, this priest is
supposed to absorb them of their sins. But in the Scriptures,
there was only one priest. All the other priests, they never
put away sin. Their work was never done. But
our Lord Jesus Christ is God's high priest, a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. Watch what it says here in Hebrews
9, verse 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, like the tabernacle or the temple.
They were just types or figures of the truth. But where did he
appear? Where did he enter in? He entered
into heaven itself. Watch this. Now to appear in
the presence of God for us. Right in the very presence of
God, Jay. Nor yet that he shall offer himself often as the high
priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood
of others. He don't have to go up there
every year and do this over and over again. If he did, then he'd
have to suffer since the foundation of the world. He'd have to suffer
over and over and over. But now what? In the end of the
world, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Not only was he the priest, but
he was the sacrifice that the priest offered. Not only was
he the sacrifice that the priest offered, he was the altar upon
which the sacrifice was offered. And not only that, but he was
God who accepted the sacrifice. Oh my, you're talking about glory. And oh my. And now, not only
is he a priest, he's officially righteous, but as a king, Oh
my, as a king, the scripture says he reigns in righteousness,
he rules in judgment. He'll bring forth judgment unto
the Isles, he'll bring forth judgment unto the Gentiles. And as a king, he says to provide,
and as a king, he says to judge, and as a king, he judges righteously,
perfectly, and reigns. He's the true Melchizedek, king
of righteousness and king of priests. Now back over here in
Isaiah 53. Let me show you this. Let's look
at this again. The Jehovah's servant. He's Jehovah's righteous servant. Righteous in His person. Righteous
in His work. He's God's elect servant. To be our surety, to be our savior,
to be our mediator. Now he's Jehovah's suffering
servant. Suffering servant. You know,
first of all, we see one person suffering for all. Look there
in verse 8 of Isaiah 53. One person suffering for the
whole. He was taken from prison and from judgment. And who shall
declare his generation? He was cut off out of the land
of the living. Watch this. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken." One was put in the place of the
whole. One. One person suffering. For what? For the transgressions
of my people. The scripture says he was numbered
with the transgression. And then not only that, one person
suffering for the whole, for the transgression of my people,
was he stricken. For all his people, He was stricken
for their transgression. Secondly, it was the innocent
suffering for the other's sins. It was the just for the unjust.
Look what it says down in verse 9. It says there that because he
had done no violence, he made his grave with the wicked and
the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither
was deceit. He was innocent. He was not guilty
of the charges that they brought against him. But he was the innocent
one suffering for other sins. He had done no violence. Look
what it says here in verse 4. And it's talking about the innocent
suffering for the other sins. Surely he hath borne our griefs.
The griefs that we would have throughout all eternity? He's
not talking about carrying the grief that we have when we lose
a loved one, the grief we have when we're sick, the grief that
we have when we see other people serving. He's talking about our
griefs before God, our griefs for all eternity. And, oh beloved,
in turn, our sorrows. Yes, we did esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But, oh, what really happened
was this, He was wounded. For our transgressions, bruised,
for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him when
His strife was healed. All we, every single one of us
for whom He was bore our sins and was smitten for our transgressions. All of us like sheep have gone
astray. We've turned everyone to His
own way. Our own righteousness, our own
understanding, our own worth, our own merits, our own way of
being saved. We've turned our own way. And
yet the Lord, when we were like that, laid on Him. Took them off of us? I see that awful load you've
got. I see that weight you've got. I see that darkness you've
got. I see that guilt you've got.
I see that load of sin you've got. He said, here, let me get
that up off of you. Let me get it off of you. You
can't bear it. I'll lay it over here on my suffering
servant. And oh, when you see him bearing
yours, you're sure enough that load comes off, don't it? And
oh, look what this. And the Lord laid on him the
iniquity of his soul. Iniquities you ain't committed
yet, Christ unborn. Now that's true. How's he going
to go out and do that? No. You keep Isaiah 53. Look with me in Proverbs 17. Back to your left. Back to your
left. Look what it says here in Proverbs
17 and verse 15. He was the innocent suffering
for the sins of others. And he done no violence. There
was no sin in him, but God laid on him the iniquity of somebody
else. But look here in verse 15 of Proverbs 17. He said, He that justifies the
wicked and condemns the just Even they both are abomination
to the Lord. But do you know what God did?
He did one and others to do the other. He condemned the just in order to justify the wicked. But He done it in such a way that he was just and good. Let
me show you something else about our Lord Jesus, our suffering
servant. Not only was he once suffering perfect suffering for
the whole, the innocent suffering for the sins of others, but he
voluntarily suffered. Look what it says in verse 7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. But he didn't open his mouth.
He said, I'm not going to. It's just not right for you to
do this to me. Just not right that I should have. What have
I ever done to you that you put this on me? No, that's not what
he said. He was oppressed and afflicted,
but he didn't open his mouth. They stood in astonishment that
he didn't open his mouth. Ain't you got nothing to say?
And he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter. Brought. And
as the sheep before his shears he's done. He still didn't open
his mouth. They took him from prison. Never
said anything. And oh, but look at what it says
here. He done no violence. There wasn't any deceit in his
mouth in verse 9. And watch what it says. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. God put him to grief. When he
makes his soul an offering for sin, he was an unresisting Savior. He didn't open his mouth. He
never resisted. Well, it pleased God. It pleased
Him. It said, oh, make my soul an offering for sin. He said,
okay. He'll see, see, and prolong his days. And he shall see, in
verse 11, of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. But Christ
never resisted. And look what it says in the
middle of verse 12, Because he, Christ, poured out his soul unto
death, and was numbered with the transgressors, and bare the
sins of many. Oh my, he poured out his soul
unto death. Christ poured it out. When He went into the garden,
He said, Oh, my soul, my soul, my soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. And oh, beloved, how we resisted,
but Christ never resisted. The suffering of our Lord Jesus
Christ, it ended in death. It says in verse 8, He was cut
off out of the land of the living. They come and said, He's dead.
Can we have His body? Well, go and make sure he's dead.
Them other two fellas still alive, how come he died so quick? They
went out there and looked, he's gonna break his leg. They looked
up and said, yeah, he's dead. Went back and told Paul, well,
you can have his. He's dead. He's cut off, and
it says cut off out of the land of the living. He's cut off from
God. My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Cut off from
man. Man couldn't help him. And then
in verse 14, Isaiah 52, look what it says. He is cut off out
of the land of the living. And as many were astonished at
thee, his visions were so marred more than any man, his form more
than the sons of men. Now watch this. But I tell you
what, he finished it. So shall he sprinkle many nations,
Here we are, Gentile nations, we've been sprinkled. The king
should shut them out. Oh, man, he's cut off out of
the land of the living. And over here in Isaiah 42, I'll
try to hurry. I'll try to hurry. Well, why
should I try to hurry when I'm talking about my Master, talking
about my Lord, talking about the Christ, talking about our
Savior, our Redeemer? Jehovah's Servant, Righteous
Servant, Suffering Servant, His Elect Servant. Look what it says
there in verse 4 of Isaiah 42. He shall not fail. Talking about
our Suffering Servant. Suffering Savior. He shall not
fail, nor be discouraged, till he hath judgment in the earth,
and the isle shall wait for his law. He shall not fail. What does that mean, beloved? Who for the joy, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him, despised the shame, endured the cross
for the joy that was set nigh before him. He said, I have other
sheep which are not this fold. Him also must pray. Was he going
to fail? He shall not fail God. Whatever
God required, he won't fail. He shall not fail his elect.
Has he ever failed you yet? He shall not fail in his death.
It'll accomplish what God meant for it to do. I lay down my life
for the sheep, and of the sheep which are not his folk, them
also I must bring. He shall not fail in his sacrifice.
His sacrifice put away sin once and for all in the end of the
world. He shall not fail in his intercession. He ever lives to
make intercession for us. And he won't be discouraged.
Oh my, how discouraged do I get? How discouraged do you get? How
low do you get? He didn't get discouraged. Who for the joy that was set
before him. He wasn't discouraged by the Pharisees who blasphemed
him and set traps for him all the time. He wasn't discouraged
by cause of unbelief. And even our unbelief didn't
discourage him. He said, all that the Father... Say, you don't
believe? You will not come to me that you might have life?
You think that's going to upset me? All that the Father gives
me, they're going to come to me. So, you go and do what you want
to do. I know what I came to do. I'm not discouraged. He wasn't discouraged because
of my unwillingness. No, no. He said, in the day of
His power, His people shall be made willing. And He wasn't discouraged
by His sufferings and the cross. When He prayed, Father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from Me, you know what He said?
Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." He says, my hour,
how many times, has not yet come. But then he told his disciples,
my hour has come. This is the hour that the Son
of Man must be delivered of. Pilate says, don't you know that
I have the power to let you go, the power to crucify you? Our
Lord says, you've got no power. You have no power. You know where
you get your power? It comes from my Father above.
He said, you've got no power. You think He was discouraged?
No. He wasn't discouraged when He hung on the cross. Instead
of hanging there crying for Himself, you know what He did? Turned
around and looked at one of them thieves and said, today shalt
thou be with me in paradise. He wasn't discouraged. And then,
beloved, to show you how he shall not fail nor be discouraged in
his suffering, he lifted up his voice and he says with a loud
voice, cried, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. And brethren, I tell you something,
it is finished. What's finished? No more sacrifices. They're all finished. No more
sin. Christ put it all away. You believe thou this? Our Lord
said, Believest thou this? I do. God said, Behold, my servant,
not elect. That's who my soul delights in.
That's who my soul delights in. And I'll tell you something,
my soul delights in Him, too. Don't you? If it pleases the
Father, that just pleases me. Oh, that's who my soul delights
in.