We're in Isaiah chapter 42 and
we're going to read from verse one. Isaiah chapter 42 and verse
one. 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
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 and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he have set judgment in the earth and the aisles shall
wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth
the earth and 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, and will hold
thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant
of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind
eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that
sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord, that is
my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise
to graven images. Behold the former things are
come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring
forth, I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song,
and his praise from the end of the earth. Ye that go down to
the sea, and all that is therein, the isles and the inhabitants
thereof, Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their
voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit. Let the inhabitants
of the rock sing. Let them shout from the top of
the mountains. Let them give glory unto the
Lord and declare His praise in the islands. The Lord shall go
forth as a mighty man. He shall stir up jealousy like
a man of war. He shall cry, yea, roar. He shall
prevail against his enemies. I have long time holden my peace.
I have been still and refrained myself. Now will I cry like a
travailing woman. I will destroy and devour at
once. I will make waste mountains and
hills, and dry up all their herbs. And I will make the rivers islands,
and I will dry up the pools. And I will bring the blind by
a way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that
they have not known. I will make darkness light before
them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them,
and not forsake them. they shall be turned back, they
shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that
say to the molten images, ye are our gods. Hear ye deaf, and
look ye blind, that ye may see. Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that
is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? seeing many things,
but thou observest not, opening the ears, but he heareth not. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness' sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honourable. But this is a people robbed and
spoiled. They are all of them snared in
holes and they are hid in prison houses. They are for a prey and
none delivereth, for a spoil and none saith restore. Who among
you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for
the time to come? who gave Jacob for a spoil, and
Israel to the robbers. Did not the Lord, he against
whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his
ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he hath
poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle,
and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not. and it burned him, yet he laid
it not to heart. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. Our passage today is all about
Christ. It reinforces and confirms our
series title, Christ in Isaiah. There's no getting away from
the fact that 700 years before the Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world as God incarnate, this faithful prophet Isaiah
was predicting his coming and explaining his ministry to the
remnant people of his age. so that they would be comforted
and encouraged despite the troubles they endured at the hands of
the Assyrians and during the Babylonian captivity. As Israel
and Judah were overwhelmed and subsumed into these nations,
The Lord provided a word of comfort to his elect people in the Old
Testament at the lips of the prophet Isaiah, that they might
be helped as they looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. The gospel writers knew very
well who Isaiah was speaking of when they were describing
the Lord's ministry and attributing to him, under divine inspiration,
the prophecies of this book that we are studying at this time,
the prophecies of Isaiah. The Lord's disciples, the Lord's
apostles, the Lord himself, he took these prophecies and applied
them to his own person and ministry. Our passage today, for example,
is extensively quoted by Matthew, who applies it to prove the divinity
of the Lord Jesus Christ and his identity as the Messiah. And John, the beloved disciple,
the disciple whose own prophecy, the book of Revelation we read
earlier in the service, John, the beloved disciple, tells us
in chapter 12 and verse 41 of his gospel, he says, these things
said Isaiah, which is Isaiah, these things said Isaiah when
he saw his glory, and speak of him. So Isaiah, says John, saw
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and spake about the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Messiah. The Messiah who would come, the
Messiah who would humble himself, the Messiah who would be God's
servant. to accomplish the will of the
Father and fulfil all the requirements and conditions of the everlasting
covenant of grace and peace. So we are on very safe ground
here in seeing God's servant in this chapter 42 of Isaiah
to be our Lord and Saviour. And this allows us to draw some
helpful applications from Isaiah's speaking and writing of Christ. I'm sure by now, because I've
said it often enough, I'm sure by now that we all grasp the
emphatic significance of the word behold. When Isaiah writes
behold, when Isaiah places this word in the mouth of the Lord,
probably that's the wrong way to say it, when the Lord declares
his behold and Isaiah writes it down, he is As it were, shouting
out, he is drawing our attention to the greatest of themes. It's like when the Lord Jesus
Christ says, verily, verily, I say unto thee. It's as if he's
crying out, he's blowing a trumpet, he's drawing our attention. more
than at other times, perhaps, and above all else, to this greatest
of themes, the covenant work of Jesus Christ. Here we are
being told to stop what we're doing, to stand in awe before
the servant whom God will send. God's chosen, his elect servant,
and his honoured servant. One who is come to comfort the
remnant people. And this is what Isaiah is writing
about. In the Old Testament days, of
course, the nations of the world would engage in their various
heathen and idolatrous religions. And when the Lord's people were
put under pressure, when the Lord's people were perhaps taken
into captivity, or when they were held in thralldom to an
opposing more powerful king, very often the religion of those
lands were imposed upon the people of Israel and the people of Judah. But there was always a remnant,
there was always a people who were held safe and secure, and
it is these to whom Isaiah is writing. there was coming up
in the history of Judah the Babylonian exile. And to these exiled people,
to this few faithful remnant people, the Messiah's soon arrival
is presented both as certain in the line of the fulfilment
of the prophecies all the way back from Abraham and Jacob and
Moses. And also, not only the certainty
of the Messiah's coming, but his success in coming, extending
his ministry far beyond the boundaries of the Jewish nation to the isles,
and to the ends of the earth. So this is what we have in Isaiah
42. Isaiah is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ for the encouragement of the Old Testament people and
showing that Christ will certainly come, the Messiah will certainly
come, and in his coming there will be a successful extension
of his kingdom. He will bring forth judgment. And this reference to judgment
is speaking about the gospel. He will bring forth the gospel
called judgment because it is the product of divine wisdom. This is the gospel of God. This is the judgment of God,
the wisdom of God, the truth of God, the purpose of God revealed
to men. And still today, God's church
is comforted and encouraged by the promises concerning Christ. When we read the scriptures together,
whether it's in the Old Testament or in the New, whether it's in
the books of Moses, or in the writings of John Wright at the
very end in the book of Revelation. The promises of the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ still bring comfort to the Lord's people. Christ himself promises his soon
return. We read about that in Revelation.
Christ says in Revelation chapter 22, behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings of the prophecy of this book. And behold, there it is
again, this behold word. Behold, says the Lord Jesus Christ,
I come quickly and my reward is with me. to give every man
according as his work shall be. Surely I come quickly. And the eager church of the Lord
Jesus Christ replies with John, Amen, even so come Lord Jesus. I have no doubt that the Old
Testament people were comforted and encouraged by Isaiah's prophecies
of Christ's coming, Isaiah's prophecies of Christ given by
divine revelation, as we are blessed with the prospect of
Christ's second coming. Men and women of faith heard
these truths, received them by faith and trusted in the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, just as surely as we trust in him
today. Don't let anyone tell you that
the Old Testament faith was different from our faith. Christ is the
sole object of faith in both testaments. I'm going to take
three headings to open out this passage to us today. Three headings
are these. A servant sustained, a people
preserved, and a new song to sing. A servant sustained, a
people preserved, and a new song to sing. So let us take these
one by one and move quickly through. First of all, a servant sustained. As we've seen, there's no doubt
who this servant is. Matthew in his Gospel specifies
the Lord Jesus to be God's chosen servant, God's elect in whom
his soul delights. It is the Lord Jesus in his mediator
role who is endued with Holy Spirit power to bring salvation
to the Gentiles. Someone might wonder, how is
it that the Lord Jesus, who we often say is our king, how is
it that he is called a servant? Why is it that he is called a
servant? Does this not imply subordination? Does it not suggest inferiority? Many of the false religions that
we encounter today teach that Jesus is not God. And they use passages like this
and other statements from Christ himself about doing his father's
will, about needing God's help, and even the limits of Christ's
own knowledge Many of these false religions use these passages
to support their wrong notions, and they say, well, there is
one God, and then the Lord Jesus is like a subsidiary God, or
a prophet, or a good man, or someone who came and told us
about the one true God. And they deny the divinity of
Christ, and they undermine the power of the gospel. The answer
to this error from these false teachings is that our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is truly God and one with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, nevertheless, to be the mediator between God and man,
between the Holy God and his fallen creation, voluntarily
took on himself the role of a servant to accomplish the terms of the
everlasting covenant of grace by which God's chosen people
amongst Adam's fallen race would be reconciled to God and fitted
for eternal life. This covenant of grace was God's
plan of salvation for his beloved people. And the Lord Jesus Christ
was the only one who could fulfil the terms of that covenant and
act as a mediator, a go-between between God and man. In verse six of chapter 42, for
example, we read, I the Lord have called thee in righteousness. Here is God Jehovah speaking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is saying in this subordinate
role within the covenant, I have called you to it and I will support
you in it. I will hold thine hand and keep
thee and give thee for a covenant of the people for a light of
the Gentiles. Jehovah called the Son to represent
and serve God's elect in the covenant of peace. And the Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ, willingly agreed. Not out of subjection,
but because he loved his father and to fulfil the obligations
of holiness and justice and grace and peace in a way that only
the God-man could. Only the Lord Jesus Christ in
his perfections could pay the price of sin. Paul tells us in
Philippians chapter two and verse six, How that Christ, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of
a servant. You see, there's that servant
again. He took upon him the form of a servant and was made in
the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death. even the death of the cross. Why? Because that was what was
required within the terms of the covenant that the Lord God
had appointed the Messiah to. That was Paul speaking to the
Philippians. Isaiah is telling his readers
that God's chosen servant would come as a man, the Messiah, and
send the gospel of God's judgment to the ends of the earth to gather
in his people and establish his kingdom. Isaiah will reveal more
in the coming chapters of what the covenant duties of Christ
will entail. But for now, it was sufficient
for the people to know that Jehovah will honour his messianic promises
that had been given away from the time of Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob and Moses, all of those promises about the Messiah who
would come, that God would honour them, even if the nation of Judah
was taken into captivity in Babylon, even if it was suppressed and
ruined and almost brought into non-existence. And God would make sure that
his honoured servant, his elect servant, will be upheld and strengthened
and sustained so as not to fail in accomplishing God's redemptive
purpose. despite the great number of enemies
that would be ranged against him. Nor would the Lord Jesus be discouraged
by the infinite weight and responsibility of sin being laid upon him. So here is Isaiah telling his
age that God would ensure that the covenant of grace would be
fulfilled and the work of redemption completed. It's passages like
these and of course passages from the Messianic Psalms that
allow us, his church, his people, of all generations, but perhaps
particularly now in this New Testament dispensation. It's
passages like these that allow us to enter more fully into the
sufferings of the Lord Jesus, both body and soul. In a little while, we're going
to be remembering the Lord in communion. But these passages
allow us to enter more deeply into the Lord's experiences.
and far from diminishing the glory of our Saviour as the cults
pretend, these humiliations of the Lord Jesus Christ in His
covenant role and in His mediator duties actually enhance and endear
the Saviour to His believing people. we see what he endured,
we see what he undertook, we see what he sacrificed in order
to win us to himself. God the Father knew full well
what would be required of the Son in life and in death. And before explicitly describing
the sufferings of the servant in the graphic detail that we'll
follow in later chapters here in the book of Isaiah, the Lord
Jehovah first openly announces that he would be close to his
servant and stay with him throughout his troubles. He pledged infinite
comfort before detailing infinite pain. Such is the cost of redemption. Such is the love of the Father
for the Son. When the Lord Jesus was in this
world as the God-man, when the Lord Jesus was reading these
prophecies from Isaiah as he did, during his own lifetime. He knew who and what they were
referring to. He knew the comfort of his Father
and he knew with awful anticipation what lay ahead at the cross. Let us not lose sight of the
agonies our Saviour endured for our sin. and the enormity of
the conflict between the Father's love for Christ and the righteous
fury of the law against sin. I dare say that we shall not
know this side of eternity, what it cost our God, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, to reconcile us to himself in justice, love
and peace. This then was the account of
the servant sustained. Let us think also about the people
preserved because this is another element of what the servant would
do. I want us to give some attention
to the tenderness of Christ for weak and spiritually ignorant
people such as we are. These images of the bruised reed,
the smoking flax, and Christ not crying out in the street
are designed to convey a sense of the empathy and the sympathy
that Christ has for his people. He who endured so much contradiction
of sinners against himself knows what we are experiencing in this
world of sin. What we have to endure and the
weariness and the weakness and the fear that afflicts us in
our pilgrim way. He knows about our doubts He
knows about our discouragements. He knows about our temptations.
He is touched with the feeling of our infirmity because for
Him they were real feelings too. Now of course the Lord Jesus Christ
did not sin but don't imagine for a moment that He does not
know what sin is or what it feels like. He knows what sin is more than
all of us. We sin in darkness. We sin in
fallen, corrupt bodies. He endured sin in his holy, perfect
body. And yet God has promised, weak
and useless as we are, and a bruised reed and smoking flax are pretty
useless. Smoking flax would be like, we
would say it would be like a candle wick. A candle where the wick
of the candle had been blown out and it was just about to
lose its flame and turn just to a column of smoke. That's
the idea of smoking flax. A bruised reed is a reed that
has already been snapped and it's just about to come apart. Nevertheless, Christ will not
abandon us. Though we're just a bruised reed,
though we're just smoking flax, he will not leave us alone in
our need or our distress. He will sustain us, he will uphold
us, he will fan that flame to life. And he will not let us
go. We're speaking here about comfort
in these sermons. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. And here two kinds of comfort
are promised. Spiritual comfort and everyday
material comfort. Isaiah's words pointed hundreds
of years ahead to the coming of the Great Comforter, whose
death and resurrection would bring hope and mercy and eternal
joy to those who mourn over sin. But Christ also gives instant
comfort in the moment when daily trials strike. We're reminded
in verse five and six, he that created the heavens and stretched
them out, he that spread forth the earth and 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
and will hold thine hand and keep thee. Our God created all
things and is sovereign in all things. Time and matter are in
his hand. Nothing breathes, nothing stirs,
nothing raises itself against God's beloved elect. except he allows it, and except
it serves his great purpose and our greater good. That's just
fact. The Lord Jehovah upheld his elect,
the God-man, in love. And he will uphold us, his other
elect, in love also. Brothers and sisters, be comforted
in your salvation and be comforted in your situation, whatever that
might be. God's providences may perplex
us in the moment, but as he calls for faith and trust in eternal
peace, so he calls for faith and trust in present trials. We may feel like a bruised reed,
useless and ready to break. We may feel like a flickering,
sputtering wick on a candle, soon to be extinguished and that
little column of smoke just rises into the air. But it isn't so. Christ will sustain, strengthen
and protect you just as He was sustained, strengthened and protected
by His Father. Trust Him and see if it is not
so. One final point, and it's a short
one. He will give us a new song to sing. God's elect, these blessed
people for whom the Lord Jesus Christ is covenant and for whom
he died and rose again, God's elect are predestined to everlasting
life. It is true, we are predestinated
to everlasting life. We shall sing the glories of
Christ the Redeemer in heaven. But also, God's elect are called
to know and enjoy the privileges of new life and spiritual conversion
in this life and in this world. We have a song placed in our
heart. It is a new song. It is a song
of love, of praise, and of worship for what God has done for what
Christ has accomplished. It's a song of gospel truth. The redeemed of the Lord shall
come with singing. We praise God who justifies sinners. We sing to worship the Saviour
who died and rose again. We sing of righteousness, of
redemption and of rest. It is the new song of the new
covenant for new creation people, raised to newness of life and
daily renewed in the inward man. Surely this too is a comfort
to our souls. The Lord does not only announce
salvation, he applies it in time for the joy of his people and
for the encouragement of his bride. The bride waits for that day
of her marriage. The bride waits for that day
of her consummation. And her bridegroom sends her
tokens of his love and his mercy and grace and all of the inheritance
that shall be hers. until that day of consummation
comes, until the great wedding day dawns and the marriage feast
begins. Our new song is a gospel melody. It is sung by preachers sent
to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. Maybe we don't have music in
our little services when we get together on these occasions,
but we're singing nonetheless. We are singing a gospel song. It's not an offer of salvation
to dead, helpless sinners. It's a quickening refrain attended
with Holy Spirit power by which a lively principle enters the
heart. bringing joyful praise for sins
forgiven and consciences cleansed. Preachers who carry this tune
rejoice in the fruit that God gives them for their labour,
and they gladly return praise to their God. They give glory
unto the Lord and declare his praise in the islands. When scripture
speaks about the islands, when it speaks about the isles, it's
talking about the regions beyond the borders of Israel. Talking about the Gentiles, talking
about us. I used to think how lovely it
was that the isles were mentioned because I attributed that to
the British isles. Well, it's the British isles
included with all the other continents and islands and nations of the
world to whom this new song is sent. This song goes forth as
a mighty man. The Lord goes forth in it as
a mighty conqueror, overthrowing kingdoms and gathering his church. They say that a song can change
the world, but it has to be a new song. God's elect are sinners
who are given a new song to sing, who are led out of blindness,
made to walk in new paths, see in new ways, and delight to honour
and serve their Lord and Saviour and King. through all their days,
in all their ways, with hymns of praise. May the Lord bless
these thoughts to us today. Amen.