Day of 49. We'll start by having prayer
here this time. Heavenly Father, I pray that
You'll enable me to teach this day from Your Word. You'll be gracious to us here
this day. Cause us to hear, Lord, with
our hearts to see the great mysteries that are in Your Word. We thank
You for the Word that You've preserved for us. We thank You
that You've kept us. We pray You bless John as he
preaches today and all those that preach the Gospel around
the world. Help us in this dark time, Lord, to stand for Thy
truth. These things we ask, be a great namesake. Isaiah 49. I've got to get a few things here
turned on. This is Isaiah's coming Messiah. You see this in 49th chapter,
starting in verse 1. Listen, O Isles, unto me. and
hearken, ye people from afar. The Lord hath called me from
the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention
of my name." Listen unto me, you people afar off, you Gentiles
that are way off yonder. Listen to me. I did not assume
this calling. That's what he's saying. I didn't
assume this upon myself. I was predestinated. anointed
of God to be his prophet, even as Moses said our Lord would
be. He would be, in Deuteronomy 18,
a prophet like unto Moses, the one who would come. That prophet,
Malachi called him in the third, look at that, mark this place
and look over the last prophet in the Old Testament, Malachi
chapter 3 verse 1. Behold, I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me." This is speaking
of John the Baptist. And the Lord whom you seek shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant
whom you delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts. He is called the messenger of
the covenant. Hebrews chapter 3 speaks of him as the apostle
and high priest of our profession. That's this one who's talking
here. Listen to me and hearken you people from afar. The Lord
hath called me from the womb. From my mother. From the bowels
of my mother he hath made mention of my name. Look at Matthew chapter
1. Just so we can identify this
one. And I know we know these things,
but it's good to remind ourselves. Matthew 1, verse 20. And while
he thought on these things, Joseph, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David,
fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. You see that in Luke. Look at
Luke also. or Mary. Not only is Joseph told
this, but Mary, Luke 1 verse 31, the angel said to Mary, You found
favor with God and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and
bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall
be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest and the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his
kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mariam to the angel,
How shall this be? Saying, I know not a man. The
angel answered and said, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore,
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God. From my mother's womb he hath
made mention of my name." Who's that? That's the Lord Jesus Christ. And verse 2 says here in Isaiah,
"...he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, and the shadow
of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft, and
his quiver hath he hid me." Now, Hebrews 4 speaks about our Lord. Let me read this to you. I'm
sure you've seen this, but you may want to turn there. Hebrews
chapter 4 speaks of our Lord Verse 12, For the word of God
is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and joint
and morrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents
of the heart. This is a powerful, powerful word, and our Lord here
speaks of Himself as being My mouth is like a sharp sword,
a two-edged sword that nobody can withstand. Two-edged. It's a surgical instrument, piercing,
dividing even asunder soul and spirit. Can you do that? What
kind of a blade does it take to divide something like that?
That's a very sharp blade, and that's what he's saying here.
He's talking about how his words can discern covered things. You don't see these things. His word's that sharp. It's a
lust-killing sword. It's a sin-killing sword. And
it's also a sword that kills righteousness. It can divide
a man up and teach him that he has no righteousness. That's
the word that's being spoken of here. And in the shadow, the
shadow, you know, this sword is a revealer of the thoughts
of men. That's what we also read over
there. The thoughts and the intents, not only of men, but the Word
of God is so sharp it reveals the thoughts and the intents
of God Himself. He teaches us. He teaches us
these things. And in the shadow of His hand
hath He hid me. I've been His secret weapon.
In the shadow of His hand He's hid me. A polished shaft in his quiver
hath he hidden." You see that? It's a choice arrow. He shined
and oiled. You know, they used to oil arrows
when they went to battle in the old days because it had less
drag and it could hit you so hard, shoot so far. And what he describes his word
here, his tongue, it's a sword and it's an arrow. It can do
close work. That's what a sword does. Or
it can do long distance work. It's a sword and an arrow. I'm
telling you, never a man spoke like this man. That's what this
verse is about. That's what that verse is about.
And verse 3 says, He said to me, Thou art my servant, O Israel,
in whom I will be glorified here. He said to me, you're my servant. Isaiah 42, turn back here. So
we identify what we're talking about here. Isaiah 42. Just the
first verse. Behold My servant, whom I uphold,
Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth. I have put My Spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment for the Gentiles. Who's that?
That's the Lord Jesus Christ, the servant of the Father. Look
at Isaiah 52 verse 13. You also see Him referred to
this way. And it's obvious who He's speaking
of here. Verse 13, Isaiah 52, Behold my servant, he shall deal
prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high,
but before that happens, listen, as many were astonished at thee,
his visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more
than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle many nations,
and kings shall shut their mouths at him. For that which had not
been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard
shall they consider. Who hath believed our report?"
It goes right into Isaiah 53. This is the servant of God. And
here back in our text, he says, You are my servant, O Israel,
in whom I will be glorified. Now, in the Bible, oftentimes,
the Bible uses an expression in a number of ways. Israel was,
as you know, Jacob's name. But here the Son of God is called,
O Israel. And the reason this happens like
this is because He is so identified with us that He even takes the
name of His people. You're Israel. You're Israel.
Let me show you a verse here. Turn to Hosea. Now, I want you
to go over there. Go beyond the major prophets
and then you're going to come to the first minor prophet, Daniel.
And then, right after Daniel, you will find the book of Hosea.
I often have to remind myself where these places are. Look
at the 11th chapter. Now this is talking about God
calling His people out of Egypt. Look at verse 1. When Israel
was a child, then I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. Now look over at Matthew 2. Look at verse 15 of Matthew 2. Verse 14. When he arose, he took
the young child and his mother by night. It's talking about
Joseph and Mary. And departed into Egypt and was
there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which
is spoken of by the Lord by the prophet saying, out of Egypt
have I called my son. You see that? It's a fulfillment. To bring the Son of God back
out of Egypt, it's a fulfillment of the prophecy in Hosea which
was about His people. It shows the identity of the
Lord Jesus Christ with His people. Back here in the text, see the
Bible has dual significance oftentimes in prophecy. The Word of God
is just like the tree of life in the garden. It is described
in heaven. down by the river where it dwells,
has twelve different kinds of fruit every month. That's God's
Word. That's how fruitful God's Word
is and how plentiful it is here. So it says here about him, this
one is O Israel in whom I will be glorified. There will be no
one that ever glorifies the Father the way this one glorifies the
Father. No one. All the attributes of God will
be glorified in this one who is coming. So now listen, this
is Isaiah describing him here, but here we have verse 4, something
I want you to see. Then I said I have labored in
vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain, yet surely
my judgment is with the Lord and my work is with my God. We
have the Son of God Himself speaking about the treatment He would
receive when He came to do His work on this earth. talks about
laboring in vain, spending my strength for nothing. It's in
vain. Now, what does that mean? Well,
that means that the ministry of our Lord and Savior when He
was on the earth, walking this earth, would not be something
that would be well received by the people around Him. That's
what that's talking about. You would not see any great reformation
among the Jews. Isaiah said, You know, in chapter
6, he says, you go preach to these people and you preach to
them and let their ears become heavy and their eyes become dark.
And Isaiah, when he heard what was coming, he said, Lord, how
long? And the Lord said, until this place is desolate. Until
it's desolate. I'm going to level that land."
And that's exactly what happened. They came and preached the gospel,
and that which was preached was taken and given to the Gentiles,
and that city that refused the Son of God was leveled. And those
people were taken out into all nations, all nations. They slighted
his doctrine. They argued about his origin.
You read this in the Bible. They said, say we not, well thou
art a Samaritan and hast a devil. They accused him of being a Samaritan,
having a devil. His followers were fishermen,
harlots, publicans, and sinners. See the crowd? Such were some
of you. You know what I'm saying? That's the crowd. But look, I
love this verse. See this how it's right in the
middle. It says, Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and
my work is with my God. In spite of all appearances,
in spite of what people think, in spite of what the Jews think,
my judgment is with the Lord, and my work is with my God. That's exactly right. That's
what was pictured in the Old Testament. The Passover lamb. Was His work with the people?
When they slew that lamb, they took that blood and put that
over the door and those people got inside that house and shut
that door and God Almighty came through and He looked on the
blood. And death didn't go to that house. Why? Because his business was
with his Lord. His business was with him. My
judgment is with my God. Our Lord was not here to impress
religious people. And he's saying here that the
Lord knows the reason he was sent. He was really sent to do
business between the Son and the Father. It would please the
Lord to bruise him. Verse 5 says, And now, saith
the Lord, that form thee from the womb to be his servant, to
bring Jacob again to him, though Israel be not gathered, yet shall
I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be
my strength. I've been fitted, preordained,
formed, given a body just like the bodies of all my people,
yet without sin. To do what? He has been given
the Spirit without measure, called of God to bring again, to bring
again Jacob unto Him. Jacob unto Him. I love that. Though Israel be
not gathered. Again, Peres would be deceiving
here during the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
if he was only sent to save the Jews, then he wasn't successful. the Jews as a nation, because
only a remnant of them would be saved, we're told. But yet,
look at this again, I love this word, yet shall I be glorious
in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.
The Jews may despise me, but I'll be glorious in His eyes.
It talks about the glorious things that the Son of God would accomplish.
Remember when the angels came there Speaking to the shepherds,
they said, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will of men. This is going to have just a
gigantic effect, heaven and earth. And you'll see that in a second
here. And he says here, God will be my strength. In spite of the
disappointments all around, he would be strengthened, protected
as a man until he accomplished his mission, his ministry. Putting
an end to sin. That's what Daniel said. He would
come and put an end to sin. And he would bring in an everlasting
righteousness. And he would be protected of
God the Father until that was accomplished. I love it. Look at Psalm 89.
Look at chapter 80 first. Psalm 80. Verse 17, Let thy hand be upon
the man of thy right hand, upon the Son of Man, whom thou madest
strong for thyself. That's talking about our Lord
Jesus Christ. Psalm 89, verse 21, you see this
again. I have found David, verse 20,
my servant, and with my holy oil have I anointed him. with
whom my hand shall be established, and my arm shall also strengthen
him." This is talking about the Son of God being strengthened
and kept as a man. Now back in the text, look at
verse 6. And he said, it's a light thing that thou shouldest be
my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved
of Israel. I will give thee for a light
to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends
of the earth. Here the Father is speaking again
saying it would be a very light thing if I only sent you to the
Jews. I sent you to be a light to the Gentiles. I'll give thee for a light to
the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of
the earth. I love the way that's said. It's
thou that's going to be my salvation to the ends of the earth. Salvation
is a man. You've heard that said. It's
a man. And it's going to be that way.
It's going to be that way. I've raised you up and you're
going to restore Jews and Gentiles alike. You'll raise them up from
spiritual death. You'll raise them up from sin
and shame. You'll raise them up to justification,
righteousness, acceptance, honor before God Almighty. You're going
to take them that were afar off and make them nigh. That's what
this one's going to do. And it's going to be that way.
It's going to be that way. Salvation is in Christ. It's
not in our doing. I wish we could learn that. It's
in Christ and it's going to be that way to the ends of the earth.
That's how he says it here. Look at that again. That thou
mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. I don't care
what generation it is, how far off or how long any man exists
on this planet. It doesn't matter. This One,
in all generations and all places, if a man needs salvation, this
One is the One, Isaiah is describing, is the One that will be the Savior.
Never going to change. Never going to change. Verse
7 says, Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His
Holy One, to whom man despises, to Him whom the nations abhor,
to a servant of rulers. Kings shall see and arise, princes
also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful and
the Holy One of Israel, he shall choose thee." The father speaks
to the son and says, I'm talking to the one who's despised, hated
of the Jews, hated because of his doctrine, hated because of
his education, his disciples, and he was hated most of all
because the kingdom that he preached was not of this world and all
their hopes were. And that's why men hate him today.
Because the kingdom he preaches is not of this world and all
the hopes of people around you are." He was despised. The nation abhorred him. They
said, this man shall not rule over us. He was a servant of
rulers. Now that's a good phrase. What's
that mean? That means he was obedient to
his father and mother. He was obedient to the Jewish
rituals. Our Lord got up and went to the
synagogue. And he was obedient to the authorities
around him, the religious authorities. He was even obedient to the civil
authorities around him. He paid his taxes and when he
was scourged of Pilate, it was done lawfully. Pilate had the
right to do it. He was a servant of rulers, but
I'm telling you, yet kings shall see and princes shall arise.
That was just a temporary thing. You see that there? I love it. Kings shall see and
arise. Princes shall worship. This is
going to happen because the Lord that is faithful and the Holy
One of Israel, He has chosen you. You are the stone that the
builders rejected, but you were chosen of God to bring salvation
to this world." Ah, that's great. Verse 8, "'Thus saith the Lord,
in an acceptable time have I heard thee. In the day of salvation
have I helped And I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant
of the people, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit
the desolate places. In the acceptable time have I
heard thee." Look at Luke chapter 4, verse 18-19. Verse 17, And there was delivered
unto him the book of the prophet Esaias, and when he had opened
the book, he found the place where it is written, The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captive, to recovery of sight
to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. Thou hast heard me. in the acceptable
time I have heard thee." Let me show you Psalm 69. You know, there was a time of
acceptance. I know it refers to the entire
time of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, because everything
He did was accepted before the Father. And prior to that time,
the bloods of bulls and goats never got the job done. It was
not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could make it
a tenant. But look at this. Now, when we
read this, you just think, who's talking here? It's very obvious.
Verse 69, chapter 69. Save me, O God, for the waters
are coming to my soul. I sink in deep mire where there's
no standing. I'm coming to deep waters where
the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying, my throat
is dry, my eyes fail while I wait for my God. They that hate me
without a cause are more than the hairs on my head. They would
destroy me, being mine enemies, wrongfully or mighty. Then I
restored that which I took not away." Who's that that restored
not that which he took not away? "'O God, thou knowest my foolishness,
and my sins are not hid from me. Let not them that wait on
thee, O Lord of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let those that seek
Thee be confounded for my sake. Let not those that seek Thee
be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel, because for Thy sake
I have borne reproach. Shame hath covered my face. My
business is with my God. It is for Thy sake I have borne
reproach. I am become a stranger to my
brethren, and an alien to my mother's children. For the zeal
of Thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them
that reproach Thee have fallen upon me. When I wept and chastened
my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth
also my garments, and I became a proverb to them, and they that
sat at the gate speak against me. And I was a song of the drunkards.
This was a time of rejection with men. But listen to me. All
the opinions of men didn't hinder him here. Look at this. But as
for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time. O God, in the multitude of thy
mercy, hear me in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out
of the mire, let me not sink. Let me be delivered from them
that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the water
flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let
not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Then I'll tell you, his body
cannot be held, this incorruptible one. Hear me, O Lord, for thy
lovingkindness is good. Turn unto me according to the
multitudes of thy tender mercies. Hide not thy face from my servant,
for I am in trouble. draw me, hear me speedily, draw
nigh to my soul and redeem it, deliver me because of mine enemies.
Thou hast known my reproach and my shame and my dishonor, and
my adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my
heart. I am full of heaviness. I looked
for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters,
but I found none. They gave me gall from my meat,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Let their
table become a snare, these ones that did this, that law, the
law that fed the Jews, that which they ate off of. It was all they
had, their rituals. Let their table become a snare
before them, and that which should have been for their welfare,
let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened that
they see not, and make their loins continually shake. Pour
out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger Take
hold of them, let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell
in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou
hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of those whom thou
hast wounded. Add iniquity into their iniquity,
and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted
out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous
But I am poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set
me on high. I will praise the name of God
with a song. I will magnify Him with thanksgiving. And this, everything that you've
been reading about here, everything we just read about here, this
shall also please the Lord better than ox and bullets that have
horn and hoof." I'm telling you, this was a time of acceptance
at Calvary Hill. This pleased the Lord. This pleased
the Lord. Everything was accepted. And
I'll tell you, back in the text here, he says, not only in this
acceptable time, you heard me, but you preserved me. And we
know that from the very time he was an infant, taken down
into Egypt, sent the wise men to bring gold, frankincense.
Those men were sent to finance a trip. That's exactly what they
were sent to do. Brought back after the king that
wanted him dead. And how often do you read in
the New Testament when the crowds wanted to kill him, he walked
through their midst for his hour was not yet come. He was preserved
of the Father. And listen to me. He was given
also, notice here, as a covenant of the people to establish the
earth. Now, this is what I said a while
ago, this man. He is the sum and substance of
God's covenant with mankind. He is the sum and substance.
He ratified this contract. This legal agreement has been
ratified by the blood of the Son of God. He's the sum and
substance of God's covenant. There is no other covenant for
salvation with man. And if a man ever gets a hold
of the Son of God, he's got a covenant with God Almighty. Now that's
just a fact. And I've given thee to establish
the earth." You know what that means? That means if it were
not for the work of the Son, God would dissolve this entire
globe and the universe. Gone were it not for this One
being described here and for the work that He has to do. And
I'm going to cause you to inherit the desolate heritages. What's
that mean? That means the earth is going
to be established and it's going to continue until all the desolate
places of this world has heard the gospel. Everywhere God intended
to send his truth is going to hear it. Because he said, ask
of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. I'm
telling you, it doesn't matter how far off or desolate the places
may be. You're going to inherit the desolate
places. It's all yours. That's what God
said to the Messiah that Isaiah saw coming. And there's only
one man that fits the bill here. And it's for his sake that the
elect and the earth are preserved and established.