Open your Bibles if you would. Back to Matthew chapter 12. Put
your finger in there. Matthew chapter 12 and then first
of all they'll go to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42. The name of the message
is Two Truths. There's two truths in the scripture
that we are going to look at today that demand our notice. First we will see the desperate
wickedness of the human heart. And it's presented in a way that
there can be no doubt about this teaching. That the human heart
is wicked. Wicked, desperately wicked. In
the second truth we will see as an encouraging description
of Christ's character. Christ's character. We'll see
his beauty, his grace, his mercy to weak believers, to every born-again
blood-washed believer. And we can say that includes
me as believers, can't we? includes me. I had Brother Brian read Matthew
chapter 12 verses 1 to 14 for us to get the context to the
setting of what we will look at today. But first of all I'd
like us to read over here in Isaiah in verses 1 to 9 of chapter
42 about God's servant. The scripture declares in Isaiah
42 verses 1 to 9, Behold my servant. That's our king, that's Christ.
This is a reference to the Messiah. God's servant. Behold my servant. Look upon him. Whom I will uphold,
mine elect. in whom my soul delighteth. You
see, God delights in the one he's speaking of. He delights
in this one, his beloved, his servant. He says, I have put
my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break. Now a priest's reed is a reed
standing among all the other reeds that's bent over. It's
not broken, but it's bent over. Not broken, though. And he won't
break it, it says. And the smoking flax shall he
not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail. Look at that.
So this servant spoken of here, he shall not fail. Whatever he tries to do, whatever he does, he will not
fail in it. This is speaking of our king,
beloved. He's ransomed our souls. He didn't fail, did he? He saved
us from our sins. That's what he did. He shall
not fail, nor be discouraged. We can easily get discouraged,
can't we? Christ was never discouraged. He was here to do the Father's
will, sent by the Father to do the Father's will, to save His
people from their sins. He didn't fail in that, did He?
Praise God, He saved us. "'Til He has set judgment in
the earth, and the isles shall wait for His law. Thus saith
God the Lord, Elohim Jehovah, He that created the heavens and
stretched forth out He that spread forth the earth, that which cometh
out of it. He that giveth breath unto the
people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. I, the
Lord, have called thee in righteousness. He's speaking of the servant
still. Who's the Lord? He's our righteousness, isn't
he? He's our righteousness. And we'll hold thine hand, and
we'll keep thee. Well, if he's keeping Christ,
that means he can keep everybody in Christ, didn't he? Oh, it's
wonderful. for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the Gentiles. Look at this, to open the blind
eyes. Oh, we were so blind. We were
so dead in sin. We were so in darkness. We couldn't
see nothing. He opened our eyes, didn't he?
We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Now we've got
eyes that are open, spiritual eyes to look and see Christ.
To bring out the prisoners from prison. Oh, we were in the prison
house of sin, beloved. We were locked up and chained
up in there. We couldn't get out. I heard some, I heard Donny Bell explain some
preacher he had heard said, well, man's got the key. All he's got
to do is open the door. No, we don't got the key. We're
in the prison house, beloved. And we got no key to get out.
Who's the key? Christ. He's the key, isn't he? He's the one who can open the
prison doors. We got no power to do it. And look at this. And
then that sat in darkness out of the prison house. See, back
then their prisons weren't like ours. Their prisons were holes
in the ground. They dug prisons out of the ground.
And they cast people in these holes in these pits. My oh my. They wanted food, they'd lower
it down with a rope. It was awful. These prisons were
awful. Places where people just went to die. Look at this. I
am the Lord, that in my name and my glory will I not give
to another neither my praise to graven images. Oh, look at
this. Behold, the former things are
come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring
forth, I tell you of them. Before they spring forth, I tell
you of them. Oh, my. My oh my, look at this. Now let's
go back to Matthew. Matthew chapter 12. And I had
our dear brother Brian finish at verse 14. We're going to read
from verse 14 to 21. And look at this. Oh, look at this. We just read
in Isaiah the prophet there, and the Holy Spirit by the pen
of Matthew is going to bring forth, going to bring forth,
that Christ is a servant, spoken of there. Christ is the Messiah,
beloved. He's the Messiah, look at this. Matthew chapter 12,
verses 14 to 21. Then the Pharisees went out and
held a council against him, how they might destroy him. He just
healed a man with a withered hand. He just healed a man with
a withered hand. Couldn't use that iron, couldn't
use it at all, and now they're seeking to destroy him. Does
that not show the wickedness of man's heart? There's the truth
number one right there. The wickedness of man's heart.
Oh my. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew
himself from tents, and great multitudes followed him and healed
them all. He already knew. He knew they
were conspiring. He's God. He's God in the flesh. He already
knows what they're thinking. It says there, right? But when Jesus
knew it, My, oh, my. You know, he could have taken
the breath away from them just like that. My, oh, my. What mercy our Lord
shows sinners. He withdrew himself from sin,
and great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
Look at that. And charged them that they should not make Him
known. He did not, you know why? You know why He did that all
the time? You know why I said, don't let folks know it was me.
So that God would get all the glory. That's why he did it. So that
God would get all the glory, beloved. He was here to do the
Father's will. He didn't want to praise a man.
He wanted man to praise God, didn't he? Oh, isn't that wonderful? That's why he'd tell them. Don't make me no one. Make God
no one. Give him all the glory and honor
and praise. Now look at this, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, we just
read this. Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved,
oh Christ is the beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him
and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive
nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets,
A bruised reed shall he not break? See, think of this, we're a bunch
of sinners, aren't we? We who are, we're just a bunch
of sinners. We're like that bruised reed. He didn't break us, though,
did he? He didn't snap that reed, did he? No. He won't break us. He won't break his people. He
heals the brokenhearted, doesn't he? He heals his people. Oh, my. And I don't mean physical
healing. I'm talking spiritual healing.
My oh my. Sometimes he's pleased to heal
physically, but that's up to him. That has nothing to do with
us. That's all God. And sometimes
he's pleased not to do that. Look at this. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and smoke and flax shall he not quench,
till he send forth judgment unto victory. Look at this last verse. And in his name, oh, the name
of Jesus, right? The name of Christ, Jesus our
Lord, shall the Gentiles trust. That's you and me, beloved. That's
you and I. We're trusting in Him, aren't
we? We're trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the first
truth I'd like us to look at, as I made earlier, is the fact
of the desperate wickedness of the human heart. Our heart is
desperately wicked. And it's so much brought forth
in verse 14. And you know what? Lest any of
us get high-minded, This was our state before the Lord saved
us. We might not have said we hated God, but by our actions
we did. Right? But look at this. Then the Pharisees
went out and held a council. They didn't just get out and
talk one amongst another. They actually got together and
had a secret meeting. They had a meeting. They had
a council. How are we going to destroy this
now? This is God in the flesh. He just healed the man. He just
healed the man. How can we destroy him? And they want to kill him, beloved.
They want to destroy him. This shows us the wickedness
of our hearts in natural man. It shows us that we're just dead
in trespasses and sins. In verse 14, these men plunge
deeper and deeper into sin. We're bad enough just on our
own, now they want to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, natural man, we hate
God. In our natural state, again,
we might not verbalize that, but we sure do by our actions
and by our thoughts. And this is a state of every
human being. This is what we're born into.
Right here. Wicked hearts. So here they are. They meet and they plan to destroy
the Lord Jesus Christ. You think their plans are going
to come to fruition? God laughs at their calamity.
He mocks them. Christ is on a mission, right?
He's going to give His life. No one's going to destroy Him.
He's going to willingly give His life as a sacrifice for my
sins and for yours as a believer. He won't be thwarted by man. Can His will be thwarted by man?
It can never be thwarted by man. Never, beloved. My oh my. And can you imagine the depths
of this great wickedness? Well, we can, can't we? We just
got to look inward to imagine the depths of this wickedness.
Because again, I'd have done the same before my conversion
as these men. And I ask you, what evil had
our Lord done to be treated in this way? None. He's the sinless,
spotless Lamb of God. He went about doing good. As
a matter of fact, after this situation, we see in verse 15
that He withdrew Himself, and a great multitude followed Him,
and He healed them all. All He did was go about doing
good, didn't He? And then He says, don't tell
anyone about Me. Give glory to God. Glorify Him. But what he's done
through me, again, he's a servant. Do you see the servitude of our
King? Do you see how much he's bought
himself so low? He's in full submission to the
Father, isn't he? And they could find no charge
against our Lord. None. You know why? Because He's
holy, He's harmless, He's undefiled, He's separate from sinners, and
He's made higher than the heavens. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 26. That's
who our King is. He's the sinless, spotless Lamb
of God. And again, His days were spent
doing good. He went around healing folks.
He never did anything wrong. He never did any evil. What a
God! What a Savior! And they tried to come at him,
and he just gave them Scripture, didn't he? Like we saw earlier
when Brian read. He just gave them Scripture. My! And they hated him without
a cause. They hated him without a cause.
So here we just see the sinfulness of natural man. We see the truth
that man is naturally depraved. We're so depraved. I don't think
we know how sinful we are, really. The depths of our sin. We see
it here a little. We get a little glimpse of it
here, don't we? My oh my. The sinfulness of natural man
is right here before us in verse 14. We see here the fact that
the unconverted heart hates God. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians chapter 2. Do you know what we count precious? Man counts as foolishness. Natural
man counts as foolishness. You know, they think the preaching
of the word is foolishness. It's wonderful, though, I say.
Tell me more about my Savior. Tell me. I can't wait till I
get to sit and listen to Norm and Donnie in three weeks and
just let them tell me about my King, brothers. Tell me about
my King. I just want to soak it up. Tell me about it. Preach them to me. My oh my,
it's wonderful. God's teachings, God's book is
wondrous to his people. But there was a time when it
wasn't, right? But now, when we're born again, this is an
incredible book. It tells me about my king. It
tells me about the one who gave his life for me. Willingly. My oh my, the one
who shed his blood for me. See, but to the natural man,
again, the teaching of God is, God's teaching is foolishness
to them. Look at this in 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. The heart of natural man will show its hatred. Whenever
it dares and whenever it has the opportunity, it'll rear its
face. It'll rear its face. Look at this in 1 Corinthians
chapter 2, verses 6 to 14. How about we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of the world nor of
the princes of the world that come to naught. But we speak
the wisdom of God in the mystery. The gospel is the wisdom of God. Christ, who's the wisdom of God?
Christ. Who does the gospel speak of?
Christ. Speaks of Him. That's what we speak of. even
the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto
our glory. My, he's a lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
right? Which none of the princes of
this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, I have
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
Look at that. Not even in our wildest thoughts
of the most beautiful things in this world doesn't even come
close to what heaven's going to be like. It doesn't even hold
a candle to it. I love listening to the birds
and looking at waterfalls and all that stuff, and the beauty
of all that stuff. It doesn't even come close to
what glory will be like. He can't even fathom what our
dear brothers and sisters who've gone before us are seeing right
now! The King of Glory! Oh, it's wonderful. I have not seen nor ye heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. Right? Who's revealed himself
to us by the Holy Spirit of God? God's revealed himself to us,
hasn't he? He's revealed himself to us. He's the one who opened
up the blind eyes that we had, given us eyes to see Christ,
unstopped our deaf ears so that we can hear the gospel now and
rejoice. And the lips that once cursed
him now praise him. Oh, it's wonderful. But God has
revealed unto us by his spirit, the spirit searches all things,
yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things
of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him? Even so, the
things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now we
have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit
which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God. The only way we can know who
God is is to be born again. for him to reveal himself to
us. That's why Christ said you must be born again. You must
be. Natural man cannot enter heaven
because we can't even understand spiritual things until we're
born again. That's what he's bringing forth here. The natural
man cannot understand the things of God. They think it's foolishness.
A man gets up and preaches about someone who died on the cross
2,000 years ago and shed his blood. The world looks at that
and goes, that's absolute foolishness. And God's people go, praise be
to God for our wonderful, merciful Savior who died for me. Right? Most wonderful news I've ever
heard. And I just want people to keep telling me, oh, preach
to me more and more about what Christ has done for me. Oh my,
how He's the Savior of sinners. He saved my soul. Oh, what a
Savior. And you know, He saves all who
comes to Him. Never turn one away who comes
to Him. Never, not once. That's why we
say, flee to Christ. Flee to Christ. He's the only
hope for sinners. He's the only hope. Oh my, He's the only one. Come unto me, all you that weary
and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. He gives
rest. We believers, we can say, oh,
he gives rest. He gives rest to my soul. Oh,
he gives me rest. Rest that I can't even put into
words how wonderful this rest is for this old sinner. Then it says, which things also
we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches. Now, man's
wisdom is philosophy and all that stuff. You know, my kids,
my son likes to read philosophy, and my daughter was reading philosophy,
and we'd be talking, and I'd say, honey, that's just, that's
just man's wisdom. That's just man's wisdom. That's
natural man trying to figure out things that are going on.
And natural man cannot understand spiritual things, can they? We
know that from what we just read. So it's man's wisdom. Not the
wisdom of God. Now I'm looking at a bunch of
people who are made wise by God. Isn't that amazing? Because you know Christ. If Christ
has revealed himself to you, if God the Father has revealed
himself to you through Christ, you're made wise by God. Don't matter if we know a little
wee bit or a whole lot. Don't matter. We're made wise
by God. And even if we know a little
bit more, right? So, see what happens, somebody
knows this much and somebody else knows this much, and they're
like, oh, looking down. No, we don't look down at one
another, do we? No, we rejoice, don't we? We rejoice in what,
I don't know a little bit about God, I'll tell you that. I'm
just scratching the surface what I know about God. But the little
bit I know, oh, praise his name. Praise his mighty name. He's
so wonderful. I hope he reveals more of himself
to me, but it'll be through this scripture, not through anywhere
else. It'll be through the preaching of this word right here. And
it'll be all about Christ. It won't be about me, it'll be
all about Christ. All about what he's done for
me. Look at this, which things also we speak, not in the words,
man's wisdom, but which the Holy Ghost teaches, in comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. But look at this, now here we
go, look at this. But the natural man, that's unsaved man, not
born again, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. See, man looks at the preaching
of the gospel, natural man, and he thinks, that's just a bunch
of foolishness. People getting together and worship somebody
who died 2,000 years ago, well, He wasn't just somebody, was
he? He's God in flesh. He's God in flesh. See? But natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto
him. Look at this. Neither can he know them. See, one cannot truly know who
God is unless you're born again. And he starts to reveal himself
to us. And then as we grow in grace,
beloved, we learn a little bit more. And that little wee bit,
it just has to be a little bit, doesn't it? And we're just amazed. We're just amazed. Oh, so natural men can't receive
the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto
them, neither can he know them, because they are, what? Spiritually discerned. See, a man who's dead in trespasses
and sins, their spirit, spiritually, they're dead. They're graveyard
dead, Ephesians 2 says. But the scripture says, but God,
who's rich in mercy, right? In verse 4 of Ephesians 2. He's
rich in mercy. He's a mercy on us, right? And
verse 5 talks about us being quickened. That's born again,
beloved. Spiritually alive now. We're
spiritually alive now. Holy Spirit dwells within us.
and teaches us the things of Christ. Now we can discern spiritual
things. We can compare spiritual things
with spiritual things, right? Isn't it wonderful? And it's
the Holy Spirit who's our teacher, right? The scripture says. And
what does he do? Who does he teach us about? Christ. He won't
speak of himself, the scripture says. He'll only speak, he'll
only teach us about Christ. So we see here then that natural
man cannot receive the things of the Spirit. This is why God
must reveal himself to us. This is why he must. Otherwise
we don't know him. Being dead in trespass and sin,
natural man wants nothing to do with God. And that's why,
and think of this too, this still amazes me. That's why we must
be made willing in a day of God's power. There was a day when you
and I weren't willing as believers. We were dead in our sins, weren't
we? And then God made us willing. I was talking to a fellow this
week. I was talking to a fellow this week, and we were talking
about election. And, you know, he got caught up in the whole
number thing, and I said, I said, buddy, it's a number that you
can't even, same thing I told my daughter that I told you guys
a few weeks ago. It's a number you can't even number. People
ask you about election, just say, it's a number you can't even number.
You can't even number the elect of God. You just can't. And I said, that's why I always
say, just come to Christ. Come flee to Christ. If you come
to Christ, you're one of the elect. I don't know who the elect are,
so I'll preach the gospel to everyone and hope and pray that
the Lord will use the message to draw his people to him or
build his people up in Christ. That's my hope. God will save
sinners. My, oh my. And why are believers
persecuted in this world? Why are we persecuted in this
world? Because they can't get to the master, beloved. They
can get to us, but they can't get to the master. That's why
we're persecuted in this world. And the Lord said, marvel not
that the world hates you. It hated me first. Right? That hasn't changed, has it?
That truth hasn't changed in 2,000 years. It hasn't changed.
Now, people might not say outrightly they hate you. But in their actions,
they do that. Some people are bold enough to
say that stuff. And you know what I say about that? Pray for
them. Just pray for him. Just pray for him. There was
an old preacher of old, John Huss. He was a preacher of old.
He was burned at the stake. And when he was taken to the
stake, the executioner said, now we commit thy soul to the
devil. But I, said John Huss, lifting up his eyes toward heaven,
do commit my soul into his hands, the Lord Jesus Christ. my spirit
which thou hast redeemed. And when the chain was put upon
him at the stake, they actually chained him to the stake. He
said with a smile and countenance, my Lord Jesus Christ was bound
with a harder chain than me. Why should I be ashamed of this
rusty old chain? He then said, I have never preached
any doctrine of evil tendency, and what I taught with my lips
I now seal with my blood. And as he burned, he sung a hymn.
He's burning there and he's singing a hymn, beloved. He's singing
a hymn with so loud and cheerful a voice that he was heard above
the noise of the multitude that were there, singing praises to
the king while he's burning on the stake. And finally, the flames put out
his voice. But you know where he went? Right to glory, beloved. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. So don't wonder if the world
is hated. The world hates Christ. It hasn't
changed. This old world hasn't changed,
beloved. This old world hasn't changed. And you know what they
did after that? After they burned him at the
stake, they took his ashes and they cast them into the river,
that the last remnant of that man should not be left upon this
earth. And it wasn't because of any sins he had committed,
although he is a sinner, but it was because he was a disciple
of Christ. He was a preacher of Christ's righteousness. He
was a godly man. He preached salvation in and
through Christ alone. And for this, the world hated
him. The world hated him. So the depth
of human nature has not yet been seen, how depraved we really
are. You know, God restrains men right
now. He does. You imagine if he didn't have
his restraint in hand, how wicked we could be. Even as believers,
he restrains us, doesn't he? Oh my. So in this verse we see
human nature revealed. That's the first truth. That's
the first truth. Just how wicked man's heart is. Now let's read verses 15 to 21.
And we are going to get a glimpse here. of the characteristics
of our wonderful, merciful Savior, the truth of who He is. He's
God's servant. And He's the beloved of God.
He's the beloved of God. But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew
Himself from tents, and great multitudes followed Him, and
He healed them all. Oh, that's amazing. And charged
them that they should not make Him known, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, 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 will show judgment to
the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man
hear his voice in the streets. That means he won't be, he doesn't
seek the praise of man. He doesn't seek the praise of
man, he's here to glorify God. That's what he's here for. A
British read, shall he not break, and smoke and flax shall he not
quench, till he set forth judgment unto victory. And in his name,
I love this last one, and in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
Trust in him. Here's the second truth brought
before us in this text. An encouraging description of
the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew gets verse 20 from
Isaiah 42.3, which we read at the beginning of the message. And what are we to understand
by this bruised reed and smoking flax? Well, again, this is figurative
language. And what do these two expressions
mean? Well, the Holy Spirit's describing
those whose grace is weak and repentance is feeble and whose
faith is small. That's all of us, isn't it? That's
all of us. We're all weak. We're all like
the bruised reed, bent over, bowed down. And again, the bruised
reed is one standing in water and bent, but not broken. Here's a bruised reed. And then, small as the spark
of the fire may be within the flax, it's a slender, erect plant
with blue flowers, and the seeds are used for making linseed oil.
And the fibers, when they're spun into fine linen thread,
and sometimes during manufacturing, they smoke from a spark. They smoke from a spark. So what's
being taught here is weak grace, weak faith, weak repentance,
which are all precious in the eyes of the Lord. Isn't that
wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? Absolutely
wonderful. Oh, our Lord loves those who
are weak, doesn't he? He said, I didn't come to heal
the whole. I come to call sinners to repentance.
I come to heal those who are sin sick. Oh my. It's wonderful, isn't
it? It's wonderful. Note that the
Lord Jesus Christ description in verse 18 here. Look at this.
Behold my servant whom I have chosen. Well, who are we chosen
in? Christ. Christ, the first elect. We're
chosen in Him, beloved. Look, that's what it says. Behold
my servant whom I've chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is
well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him
and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. Marvel at these words. Look,
it says here in the scripture that the father is well pleased
with his servant here. He's well pleased with him. What
did he say? This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. You're not pleased with any of
us outside of Christ, is he? That can't be said of any other
man or woman in this world, can it? Who's ever lived in this world
other than Christ? Can't be said of any of us in
our natural state. No, the Lord, the Father is well
pleased with Christ, who offered Himself a ransom for all who's
lacked. For His sheep, it's His shed
blood that redeems us. We're saved by His perfect, again,
I know I keep hammering this all the time, we're saved by
His perfect, complete, finished work. Christ and Christ alone. Nothing else. Nothing else. You know why we need to hear
the gospel all the time? Because we so quickly forget. We so quickly
forget. That's why the Lord has us hear
the gospel all the time, again and again and again and again. And it's wonderful to us, isn't
it? It never gets old. If it ever gets old to someone,
they're in trouble. They're in trouble. Tell me about my King. Tell me
about God's amazing grace. Tell me about how my Savior,
Blanton, died for me on Calvary's Cross. Tell me more. Tell me more. And note also that
our Lord Jesus Christ is God's servant. Behold, my servant.
This is God speaking. Christ is His servant. And we
see that all through when we read about Christ's life. He
was in total servitude to the Father, wasn't He? He was here
to do what? The Father's will. Remember what
he said to Mary and Joseph? When they came, they found him
after they left him for a while. What are you doing? I'm about
my father's business. He's only 12 years old. I'm about
my father's business. Oh, it's wonderful. So here we
see that our Lord Jesus Christ is Jehovah's servant. He's the
sent one of God, which we've been seeing all through our study
in John 17 on Wednesday nights. We've been seeing how much he's
been sent by God. He came here again to do the
Father's will. It is so clear in scripture, and our Lord reminds
us of that again and again and again in the Gospels. He's Jehovah's servant, the sent
one of God, to save his people from their sins. In Isaiah, what
we read in Isaiah, Isaiah's writing about the Messiah. And we see
here that the Holy Spirit has Matthew pen these words, that
these words are speaking about Christ. So who is Christ then? He's the Messiah. He's the sent one of God. Behold my servant whom I've chosen,
my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit
upon him and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. So Isaiah is
writing about Christ. He's writing about Christ. And
the Holy Spirit is, now think of this too, the Holy Spirit's
the one who had Isaiah write those words, right? The Holy Spirit's the one who
had Matthew write those words. Isn't that wonderful? They speak
of the same person. They speak of the same. One before
he even came into this earth, and one after his death. Oh,
it's amazing. It's just amazing. And note in
verse 18, too, that the term that the Father uses here, behold
my servant whom I've chosen, my beloved. My beloved. My beloved. My oh my. Turn if you would to Ephesians
chapter 1. Our Lord Jesus Christ is here.
He's called the Beloved One. And look what's over here. Ephesians
chapter 1. He's the only begotten of the
Father, right? He's the only begotten of the
Father. Look at this in verse five. So he's sent by the Father
to redeem his people from their sins. It says here, having predestinated
us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. Look at that. We're saved according
to the good pleasure of God's will. What comfort, what comfort
we can find here. We're predestined to the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ himself according to God's will. Nothing
in us, nothing. And then, my oh my, Isaiah writes this, this people
have I formed for myself that they might show forth my praise.
We were predestinated by God to show forth his praise, beloved. That's wonderful. It also says, for Jehovah hath
chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his particular pleasure.
He's pleased to choose us in Christ. That's in Psalm 133, 4. So be
in wonder of God's grace shown to sinners. Let it warm our souls. Now look at the next verse. Look
at verse 6. who in the praise of the glory of his grace wherein
he hath made us what? Accepted in who? Accepted in
who, beloved? In the beloved. The same beloved
that Matthew's talking about. The servant of God. The sent
one of God. The beloved one. The Lord Jesus
Christ. We're accepted in the Messiah
that Isaiah spoke of, right? Same author of the Scriptures,
the Holy Spirit of God, calls Christ, using the same quote
from Isaiah, the Beloved of God. And then Paul writes here, by
the same author, the Holy Spirit of God, that we believers are
accepted in the Beloved, accepted in Christ. Isn't that wonderful?
You see how Scripture just ties in together, one with the other?
It's in such harmony, beloved. It's in such harmony, it's incredible.
And what we see here is God the Father's love to the church expressed
by the apostle Paul, but by the true author, which is God the
Holy Spirit. He writes that God's people are accepted, accepted
in the beloved, accepted in Christ. God accepts us. We're sinners
though, right? We've been washed clean in the
blood of Christ. Now we're clothed in His precious righteousness,
and He accepts us. And think of this, we've been
marveling about this on Wednesday nights, that we were the fathers. Think of this first. We were
the fathers. He chose us, and then He gave
us to Christ. Read John 17. It's amazing, the
first five verses. The Father gave us to Christ.
And now He accepts us in Christ because of His precious blood. It's amazing. It's absolutely
amazing. I'll tell you what. There's no
God like our God, is there? Who shows mercy to sinners. He shows mercy to sinners such
as we. And why does he do this? Well,
look at verse six again. To the praise of the glory of
his grace. Do we praise God for his grace?
All the time, don't we? Thank you, Lord, for having mercy
on me. Thank you, Lord, for your grace bestowed upon me. Thank
you, Lord Jesus, for dying for my soul, saving my soul. Thank you. So first, we're chosen
in Christ. Secondly, we are predestinated
to glory in Christ. And thirdly, God's people are
accepted in Christ. Therefore, it's all about Christ.
Right? That's why Paul said, I'm determined
not to preach anything among you, but Christ and Him crucified. Isn't that wonderful? What do, you know, and I know
I say this a few times, but I'm going to say it again, 50 lessons
on how to be a better Christian. You know who that puts the focus
on? Exactly. You know what these verses put
the focus on? You know who these verses put the focus on? The
Father chose us in Christ, predestinated to glory in Christ, to be conformed
to the image of His Son, and thirdly, accepted in Christ. It's wonderful. That's all I
have for you is Christ. That's all I have to preach to
you is Christ. I may come at it from different scriptures,
but all I have to preach to you is the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
He's all that matters. He's all that matters. Oh, it's
wonderful. So marvel at this precious truth
before us, that we are accepted. Sinners are accepted by God through
Christ, the beloved one. The beloved one. And you know,
we're beloved because we are in him now. We're the beloved
of God. Isn't that amazing? Oh, it's
incredible. It's incredible. And then note
verse 7 of Ephesians chapter 1, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to what? The
riches of his grace. So Paul writes that our being
chosen in Christ, our predestination, and our being accepted in Christ
are all spoken of. Now think of this. They're all
spoken of from the foundation of the world. When were we chosen in Christ?
Before the foundation of the world. When were we predestinated
in Christ? Before the foundation of the
world. When were we accepted and beloved? Before the foundation
of the world. And now he speaks of something
that has to happen in time. Now he speaks of something that
has to happen in time right here. We're purchased with the blood
of Christ. In whom we have redemption through his blood. See Christ
had to come here. He had to come to redeem us,
beloved, in whom we have redemption. And look at that, the forgiveness
of sins. How many sins? All my sins. Not one left behind. The forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of God's grace. See, God's grace is bestowed
upon us. And we as saved sinners, we see
the riches of God's grace and the fact that he's forgiven us
of all our sins. And there's nothing we did to get that. It's
all in and through Christ. Planned, purposed, and executed
by God. For you and I. We who are his
people. There's lost sheep out there
still, isn't there? You know how I know there's lost sheep out
there? Because Christ hasn't come back yet. When that lost sheep
is saved, it's all over, beloved. It's all over. My oh my. Why are we here? Like I spoke last week, right? For the furtherance of the gospel.
That's why we're here. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. And notice again that in verse
seven, that that which was planned and purposed by God came to pass
in time. We're redeemed by the precious
blood of Christ. Redeemed by his blood. Right
now. You know, right now I stand before
you as a man redeemed. Saved. Made fit for heaven. In
and through Christ alone. Not because of anything I did,
but all because of what Christ did. Oh, it's wonderful. Sinner friend, flee to Christ!
Come to Him! He's the only hope. He's the
only hope. Oh my. And so marvel at this
truth that's set before us. We are accepted in the beloved.
That's accepted in Christ. In Christ alone. Again, look
at verse 18 of Matthew chapter 12. Behold my servant, whom I
have chosen, my beloved. Oh, because he's the beloved,
all that are in him are beloved of God. In whom my soul is well
pleased, God is well pleased with Christ. I will put my spirit
upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. Oh, my. I say, may these blessed truths
that we looked at today, may they warm your heart this week.
May they just warm your heart this week. You know, we're going
to have a trying week. We always do, right? Something
always comes up. Unexpected. Let these words warm
your heart, that our Savior, our Savior is the sent one of
God. He's the chosen one of God. He's the beloved of God. He's
the one who God's pleased with. Therefore, he's pleased with
everyone in Christ, isn't he? Oh, that's amazing. That's amazing. Now, we may all be at one time
or times be full of fears and hopelessness, because we have
the flesh, don't we? We battle the flesh. Our faith,
our hope, and our love may appear so small, may appear so small,
Weak faith, you know what weak faith does? It gives a man a
real and true interest in Christ, or a woman. Gives us a real true
interest in Christ. You know that weak faith might not give the
same joy that strong faith gives, but you know it's faith nonetheless,
isn't it? Do you know that Do you know
that there's life in an infant just as truly as there's life
in a growing person? There's life in a babe in Christ
just as there is in a mature believer. Isn't that wonderful? And you
know that there's fire in a spark just as truly as there's fire
in a burning fire? One's small, one's large. Still
fire, isn't it? Weak faith, strong faith. Still
faith, given to us by God. Given to us by God. So the least
degree of grace is an everlasting possession. Be thankful at least you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, when so many others don't. You know,
the faith that's given to us, it came from heaven. God gave
it to us. For by grace do you say it through
faith, and that not of yourselves? It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. It's God-given. Rejoice, beloved. I'll tell you
what, do not the angels of God rejoice at one who's seeking
Christ? Oh yeah, they do, don't they?
They do. They have joy when they see little
faith. Little faith. Does the Lord Jesus
only regard strong faith? No. No. No. We see there in our text a bruised
reed. You know, Saul of Taurus became
a bruised reed, didn't he? He became a bruised reed. He
was firm and strong, and he became a bruised reed, didn't he? And he cried out to the Lord.
And who did the Lord? The Lord sent him someone, didn't
he? We need to encourage the first
movement of grace in the soul towards Christ. We need to rejoice. We need to rejoice. Because the
bruised reed and the smoking flax are very precious in God's
eyes. Whether your faith be strong
or weak, It's God-given, and it's precious in God's eyes.
We can sometimes have strong faith, can't we? And then sometimes
we can be so weak, right? But rejoice. God's given you
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And what would
Paul say? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Whether it's weak or strong,
Our salvation is not dependent upon us or our faith, how weak
and strong it is. It's dependent upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. Glory to his name. Glory to him.