Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man,
is the full and complete revelation of God to men. It is an important
principle that we maintain when we attest to this fact, because
we are saying that we believe there will be no new revelation
of God's purpose for mankind in this world. There will be
nothing else added to the Holy Scriptures and to those things
which have been attested by the apostles concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ, by which another way of salvation will be revealed. This is God's way of salvation. This is the fullness of God revealed
to us. And the person of His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, has spoken all that God has given Him to
declare. and there is no more to be said
upon the matter. As we gather here week by week
to worship, this is nothing new that we declare. We are rehearsing
those things. We trust that the Lord has committed
to our understanding and to our keeping. The Lord God himself
has declared, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. Hear ye Him. And so we come and we preach
Christ crucified. We come and preach those things
which the Lord Jesus Christ has said and done. And we draw upon
the testimony of the whole of Scripture and of those men and
women of Scripture. who both saw and understood what
we see and understand of the loveliness of God's way of salvation
and mercy and those things which he has planned for his people. The writer to the Hebrews tells
us that this is his mind on the matter also, for he says in chapter
one, God, who at sundry times and diverse manners spake in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his Son. And I want to draw your attention
to something interesting this morning, which has intrigued
me over some time now. And it is that as if it were
to reinforce this message of the uniqueness and centrality
of the Lord Jesus Christ as far as God's revelation to men and
women is concerned, it is interesting I believe, for us to notice the
frequency with which one particular word is used in order to draw
attention to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that word is behold. Behold. I wonder if you have
noticed the frequency with which the word behold is used in scripture,
especially when it is making reference to the Lord Jesus Christ
and to his work and to the things that he has done. It seems as
if when something about the work of Christ or the person of Christ
was being shown to the prophets or the apostles that the word
behold was used as it were to wave a flag and to say now Think
about this, look at this, see this, understand this, see how
important this point of truth and doctrine is. For example,
God the Father calls upon the church to view the Son, to regard
the Son with all possible attention. The person of Jesus, the character
of Jesus, his son. And he says in Isaiah 42 verse
1, 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. We're in Isaiah 38 this morning
for our thoughts but just flick over a couple of pages in your
Bible to Isaiah 42 and read there with me these opening verses
of Isaiah 42 because I think they will be an encouragement
to us. It is clear that Isaiah was speaking
about the Lord Jesus Christ here and it's a wonderful thing to
have his identity attested and our minds directed to him as
this great prophet of old, this prophet of Hezekiah's, Hezekiah's
minister of the things of the Lord Jesus Christ. has left this
testimony here for us also. In such way, in such divers manners,
the prophets spoke of old. Isaiah 42 and verse 1. 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 isles 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 to the people,
for a light to 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 them, before
they spring forth. I tell you of them. There is
no question, there is no doubt, friends this morning, that this
is the Lord Jesus Christ that is being spoken of. And it is
one of the examples in scripture, one of the glorious examples
where the Lord particularly draws the attention of his people to
the person of Jesus Christ by the use of the word behold. Similarly,
in Zechariah 3, verse 8, he says, Behold, I will bring forth my
servant, the branch. The branch, again, is another
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is attested several times
in the Old Testament writings. And the Lord God says to his
people, Behold. In Malachi 3, verse 1, We're
told there, the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his
temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight
in. Behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts. Don't let this pass you by. Behold,
he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 7, 14. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. You're not missing this, are
you? You're beholding this, are you? Isaiah 65, verse one. I am sought
of them that asked not for me. I am found of them that sought
me not. I said, behold me, behold me
unto a nation that was not called by my name. Who is that that
he's speaking of? Who is this nation that was not
called, that is now called to behold the Lord Jesus Christ? These are the isles of whom Isaiah
speaks. These are the Gentiles that Paul
was referring to in Ephesians chapter two, which we read together. This is the two nations that
have been made one by the Lord Jesus Christ. as he has wrought
out the salvation of his people. And in John chapter 12, verse
15, we read these words. Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, thy king cometh, sitting
on an ass's coat. Behold, thy king cometh. And I think that as we look through
the scriptures and see the frequency with which we are enjoined and
encouraged to behold, even if there is no direct and immediate
reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, this usage invariably refers
to something amazing and wonderful to be especially noted with regard
to the Lord's work and his revelation to his people. He is wonderful to his people.
He was called wonderful. He is wonderful to his people
and his ways and his works and all his accomplishments are wonderful
too. Previously, we have seen this
in the history and testimony of Hezekiah. You remember when
we were reading last week the same chapter back to Isaiah 38, same chapter in verse 7 and in
verse 8 we read together, and this shall be a sign unto thee
from the Lord. This was Hezekiah being addressed
by Isaiah and told that he would receive a sign of the healing
that was to take place. This shall be a sign unto thee
from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken. Behold, I will bring again the
shadow of the degrees which has gone down in the sundial of Ahaz. Ten degrees backward, so the
sun returned ten degrees. By which degrees it was gone
down. Here's a question for you this
morning. Is a sign greater than the thing
signified? Well, no, no. The thing that
is signified, the thing that the sign attests to is greater
than the sign. The sign is not greater than
the promise that it attests. The grander, more glorious fulfillment
was the extra years that Hezekiah got, was the fact that here was
a picture of life out of death. Hezekiah knew that he was a dead
man. Isaiah had already told him that. And then, as it were, a resurrection
took place. After three days, a resurrection
took place, and Isaiah was able to return to the temple and there
to worship God. He wrote this hymn. that this
hymn would be sung by the players upon the stringed instruments,
along with all the other Psalms of David that he had previously
directed them to employ in the worship of God. He wrote this
hymn that it might be a lasting testimony to the fact that here
was life out of death. Here was resurrection from the
dead. And the very going back of the
shadow on the dial of Ahaz was a sign to show that this marvelous,
wonderful resurrection, this new life, this recreation of
life was going to be Hezekiah's experience. You ever heard the phrase that I would move heaven and
earth to accomplish something. Well, according to my understanding
of the 10 degrees reversal on this dial, that's exactly what
God did. He moved heaven and earth, and
yet the sign was not greater than that which it signified. this earth with all its beauty
and its majesty and its power. We can see the evidence of power
every time a storm blows or the earthquakes or a volcano blows
and then we see how frail man really is as he shivers and shakes
until it stops. This world with all its power
and its majesty, God controls it as a spinning orb in space. And his word can spin it up or
slow it down or turn it round or do whatever it is that he
desires to do. And yet the sign is not greater
than the thing signified. The laws of nature, the laws
of nature were suspended. in order to give this man 15
more years. Nature should have run its course.
This man was there at death's door itself. There was no resurrection
for Hezekiah until the Lord granted him this new life. And the very
laws of nature, I say, are suspended Throughout the ministry of the
Lord Jesus Christ, when a virgin conceived, the laws of nature
were turned on their head. When a son was given, the God-man,
when God came as a man, the very laws of nature were changed and
altered. And I believe that the laws of
nature are suspended each time a sinner finds peace with God. Because nature only has one course. Those who are dead in sin only
have one end. Their death will run its course
and they will be stood in judgment before God. Well might it be said for the
Lord's people to behold the wonderful works of God the Father in the
person of his Son, Jesus Christ. And this is precisely the testimony
that we are given here in this hymn by Hezekiah this morning. It is a beautiful account of
God's sovereign grace in the life of an elect sinner. In the first five verses of this
hymn, Hezekiah laments the cutting short of his life and the dashed
hopes and expectations that he had. We've spent a little bit
of time thinking about this already, and we've understood, I trust,
that there was more to this than simply the demise of an individual. Hezekiah, as a believer in God,
as a believer in the promises of God, and as an inheritor of
the covenant promises of God, as delivered to his father, David,
understood that he was part of a line by which the Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-man, the Messiah, would come into this world in
order to deliver and save his people. Isaiah's prophecies are
full of the testimonies that God gave that prophet, and Hezekiah
understood them completely. And so we discover that Hezekiah,
knowing that he had no son, found himself in this place of imminent
death, not knowing what was going to become of the promises and
the plan of God for the salvation of his church and people. And so Hezekiah speaks of those
things that he experienced in these first few verses of his
psalm as he anticipated his death. And it's almost as if he couldn't
understand the fact that he was no longer going to be able to
stand in the presence of God in this life, no longer going
to be able to worship together in the temple with men in this
life. and he's counting down the hours
until his death finally comes upon him. I believe that these feelings
that Hezekiah expresses here are not altogether unfamiliar
to the Lord's people, not perhaps in the extremities with which
they were experienced with Hezekiah, but in their souls to a greater
or lesser extent. What Hezekiah says with regard
to his own imminent death, the sensitive sinner also cries with
regard to his soul and to its eternal place before God. Observe his growing hopelessness. Observe the coming to an end
of himself, his acknowledgement of the need that he had, and
his confession before God. It culminates in verse 14. When
he writes, like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter. He's still
speaking about this time when he was under this weight of oppression. He says, like a crane or a swallow,
so did I chatter. I did mourn as a dove. Mine eyes
fail me with looking up. Oh Lord, I am oppressed. Is this not the experience of
one who is coming to an end of themselves as far as their sin
is concerned? Have you ever felt your sin as
an offence before God? Ever felt that conviction upon
your soul as God the Holy Spirit speaks to you of a broken law
and of judgment to come and of an appointed time when you would
stand naked before the holy wrath of God? And is there not a sense
in which we understand those of us who have felt the benefit
of the blood of Christ to cleanse that oppression which comes upon
us through judgment of sin in our lives? Oh Lord, I am oppressed. But here's something else that
Hezekiah added, and I think the significance of this ought not
to be underestimated. He says, O Lord, I am oppressed
in this moment of death, in this confusion of my understanding,
in this moment when it appears that the very covenants of God
may not be about to be fulfilled. Talk about the earth moving.
Talk about the sun standing still. These things must happen if God's
covenants are not going to be fulfilled. The earth must fail,
the sun must fail in its motion if God's purposes are not going
to be fulfilled. And here this man says, oh Lord,
I am oppressed. But he adds, undertake for me. And I think there's something
special in that little phrase. It's an extraordinary statement
if we understand it. by using different words, because
here's what it means. Stand surety for me. That's what it means. When he
says, undertake for me, it means stand surety for me. It means draw near to help me. I am oppressed, draw near to
help me. I am oppressed, come to my aid
in my hour of need. Stand surety for me. I believe these words of Hezekiah.
ought to be spoken by every sinner who feels their sin and the oppression
of condemnation and judgment upon them. Here is the answer
for those under conviction of sin. Lord, I am oppressed. undertake for me. Lord, I am
oppressed, stand surety for me. And in Hebrews chapter 7 verse
22, we are given this testimony by the writer. By so much, he
says, was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the sinner's hope. The Lord Jesus Christ and
his work upon the cross and the blood that he has shed, he is
the one who undertakes for his people within that covenant of
peace. He is the one that stands in
the councils of the Godhead, who draws near to us and draws
near to his Father on our behalf. It is a beautiful picture of
grace and mercy which is set before us here in Hezekiah's
testimony. The next six verses of Hezekiah's
hymn, his psalm, open up to us a treasury a testimony, a beautiful
picture of personal assurance of God's love and his provision
towards a sinner. The Lord spoke to him. We've
mentioned this before, it's worth just touching and passing again. How blessed you are, my friend,
my sinful friend, if God speaks to you. How blessed you are if
God speaks to you. The first thing that most people
will hear from the voice of God are the words, depart from me. But oh, what a privilege. if
words of comfort and invitation and kindness are granted to us
this side of eternity. Lord Jesus Christ spoke to Hezekiah,
for the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal word, and when the
word is spoken to the heart of a sinner, it is Christ who is
speaking. The Lord gave him a sign, a testimony
that those promises that he had made would be fulfilled and would
be kept. And look at the reaction of Hezekiah. He says, what shall I say? It's almost as if he had gone
through the first part of his hymn and he said, I said, verse
10, I said, verse 11, I reckoned, verse 13, Verse 14, like a crane
or a swallow, I did chatter. And then the Lord speaks. And
then the Lord gives him a sign. And Hezekiah says, what can I
say? What can I say? I have no words. I'm lost for words. What shall I say? He hath both
spoken unto me. and himself hath done it. There is a testimony of sovereign
grace. There is a witness to the fact
that God has spoken. He has testified to the heart
of this sinner. He has given him a sign and he
has shown him that he himself is the life, he himself is the
resurrection and that there would be the fulfilment of the covenant
promises of God and Hezekiah would live to be part of that
line. So Hezekiah says, and I think
these are lovely words, I'm going to leave them with you perhaps
for you just to meditate upon in the quietness of your own
hearts from time to time. What shall I say? He hath both
spoken unto me and himself hath done it. I shall go softly all
my years in the bitterness of my soul. This man has been talking
about morning and evening, day and night in the first part of
his hymn. Now he's speaking about all my
years. He's a man of faith. He's a man
who trusts the Lord when the Lord has spoken to him. He's
a believer. He is one of the Lord's little
ones. one of those elect children of
God. But here is his testimony. I
shall go softly all my years. For the next 15 years of his
life, Hezekiah went softly in the bitterness of my soul. I believe that is so precious. Who is it that speaks within
the Godhead but Christ the Word? And what a testimony that Hezekiah
here makes to the faith and trust that he has in his master. This man who really felt that
he had no time left now speaks of the years and he goes softly
in those years as he reflects upon the grace that has been
shown to him and the forgiveness that he has experienced. My friends,
there is little room in our hearts for hardness nor for harshness
of speech. We should go softly all the days
of our life, all the years of our lives, as we have tasted
the grace of God, as we have experienced the forgiveness of
sin. Where is there room for harshness
and hardness in our dealings with men and women? Such is the
walk of those who go softly all the years of their life. Where
is pretentiousness? Where is pride? Where is there
any justification for lording it over one another? Where is
there any reason for us not to deal kindly one with another
and to share one with another in that mutual love and fellowship
that the Lord's people possess? Let it be a desire of our hearts
that like Hezekiah, we learn to walk softly in this world. Hezekiah's testimony is the testimony
of all those that have been saved by grace. He says, himself has
done it. Not me, not my efforts, not my
merits, not my will, not my work. but he himself has done this
by the promise, by the power, by the presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ in the souls of sinners. So they declare these things
to be so. Verse 16 says, we had been as
dead men. When we speak about By these things men live, and
in these things is the life of my spirit. In our trespasses
and in our sins we are but dead men. And there Hezekiah speaks
of it. But now the Lord has recovered
us. In these things is life. to be found and the experience
of grace to be had. He is the life of our spirit. Verse 17 says, behold, here's
this word, behold again, behold for peace. And did the Lord Jesus
Christ not have this testimony given to him that he was our
peace? Did Paul not write that to the
Ephesians in chapter two, saying that he is our peace and he has
made peace for us and has reconciled us to God? Here is peace. Hezekiah testifies, I had great
bitterness, now I have peace. Thou hast, in love to my soul,
delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast
my sins behind thy back. This was a man who was writing
hundreds of years before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet here is a man who uses
the very vocabulary of the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of sins,
and the casting them behind the back of God into the sea of his
forgetfulness. What a wonderful testimony to
grace this is in the life of Hezekiah. It is another one of
the Lord's beholds. Behold! You are for peace. Behold my deliverer, my peacemaker,
my reconciler, my mediator. Behold him, says Hezekiah. Behold for peace. I had all of that harshness,
all of that hardness, all of that bitterness, all of that
corruption, but now I have peace. You are for peace, or Christ
is for peace. In the Acts of the Apostles,
Peter says, peace by Jesus Christ. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. And Hezekiah is speaking of his
experience of God's forgiveness of his sin. I wonder this morning if you
can so speak with Hezekiah. Do you know what it is to have
your sins forgiven? Do you know what it is to have
your sins forgiven? Have you a personal knowledge
of that peace with God in your own soul? I had great bitterness. I had great distress of soul. I had deep foreboding and fear. These are those things which
I had, but now I have tasted peace from God. Thou hast in
love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption. Perhaps
that was the inspiration for Charles Wesley's famous hymn,
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly. What do we know of God's love
to us? The object of God's love is the
souls of his people. He loves us. I have loved thee,
he says to Jeremiah, with an everlasting love. Therefore with
loving kindness have I drawn thee. And the instance of the
example of God's love towards us is that he delivers us from
the pit of corruption. How do we know God loves us?
Because he delivers us from the pit of corruption. Have you experienced
the love of God in your life in such a dramatic way that you
can testify He has delivered me from the pit of corruption? Psalm 40 verse 2, the psalmist
writes, He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of
the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock. and established
my goings." That was the psalmist's testimony. Is it ours? Is it yours? Is it mine? The evidence of this pardon for
sin and the evidence of this delivery out of the pit of corruption
is that He gives us a sense and an awareness of the privileges
of his grace in our life's experience. Who is a God like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage? He remaineth not in his anger
forever because he delighteth in mercy. Micah 7 verse 18. Hezekiah found full forgiveness,
full salvation, a fullness of the experience of the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ in his life. He discovered peace with
God. He has been put into the hands
of Christ for peace. He has been redeemed by the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has been turned out of
that broad way that leads to destruction, that road to the
pit of corruption, into the way of everlasting life. Yes, he
had 15 more years in this world, but he had an eternity stretching
before him as he knew the grace of God in his salvation. And having thus found salvation
in his soul, the King declares at the end of his hymn, Not the
dead in sin, but the living in Christ shall praise thee. Who is it that praises God? Not
the massed choirs of the temple tabernacle, not the hymn singers
with their professional approach. It is the Lord's people who praise
Him. It is the Lord's people. It's
our job. He has a myriad of angels in
glory who sing praise to the honor of His name always. But on earth, He has a people,
a remnant. and he calls us week by week
to worship and praise his name. Hezekiah is speaking about the
church of Jesus Christ here at the end of his psalm. He says,
the living, the living, he shall praise thee. Who is this the
living, the living? Who is the living, the living? It's the living, living. It's
the people on this earth who are alive. Not the dead on the
earth, but the spiritually alive on the earth. You are the living,
living. There are people in this world
who are living dead, but you are the living, living who have
tasted the peace of God through the mercy of Jesus Christ. All
die. without Christ, who deny and
despise him here in this life, and they will never know him
in death. There are multitudes who now
live in this world who are dead in spirit. But the living, living
is the church of Jesus Christ. And they it is who are called
upon to worship him and praise his name. Now is the accepted
time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. The living, the living shall
praise thee. It is the purpose of God's church
here upon earth. The father to the children shall
make known thy truth. And so we testify, as every good
mother and father does to their children, that this is the way
of life and we encourage and enjoin them to walk in it. We
praise the Saviour who has taught us these truths in our own heart
and we bear witness to them in our families and in our communities
and amongst our friends. Hezekiah, to his unborn son,
Manasseh, would testify these things and in faithfulness he
would bear witness to God's faithfulness and his covenant promises. Let's
turn with me please to Matthew chapter 1. In your Bibles I want
you to look at this. Matthew chapter 1. Hezekiah had been anxious in
these last moments of his life before this miracle had been
given to him about the way in which God's promises would be
fulfilled. Look there in verse 9 of Matthew
chapter 1. It says there, And Ozias begat Jotham,
and Jotham begat Echaz, And Echaz begat, who is that? Ezekias. Ezekias, they dropped
the H, but that's the same man. And Ezekias begat Manassas. Manassas begat Amen, and Amen
begat Josias. So this is the testimony of the
genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is Hezekiah right in
the middle of the list in the promised fulfillment of the covenant
that had been made with David. What a privilege we have this
morning to be able to sing God's praises all the days of our lives
in the house of the Lord. That's what you are, my friends,
this morning, a people of praise. That's your role and responsibility
in this world, a people of praise. And what is the theme of our
praise? The Lord was ready to save me. When I called upon him,
he heard my prayer. When I sought him, he was found
of me. He was ready, able, and willing
to save. Lord, bestow upon thy people
a burden of praise that we might bring to thy throne our worship
and thanksgiving. Grant that we might sing our
songs all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. Amen.