Open your Bibles with me, if
you will, to the gospel of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 42. It is such a great delight to
be with you, and I trust God will be pleased to meet with
us tonight. When I was 17 or 18 years old, someone directed
my attention to a book written by John Bunyan called Pilgrim's
Progress. And I read it with great delight,
instruction, and satisfaction. And I hadn't read the book since
then until just a couple of weeks ago. I picked it up and started
reading it. And it's even more profitable and more delightful
and more instructive now than it was then. A book about the
experience of God's elect as we make our pilgrimage through
this world. A book that touches close to
the heart. Bunyan, if you're not familiar
with it, he describes himself as a pilgrim named Christian
and he meets with various friends as well as fake friends along
the way. But his continual companion was
one hopeful and Christian and hopeful One night went to sleep
in Enchanted Ground, and they crawled over the wall out of
the way into a place called Bypass Meadow, and they met up with
one Giant Despair, who was lord of Doubting Castle. And Giant
Despair locked Christian and Hopeful in the dungeon of his
castle, where they just barely subsisted. day and night for
many days. And finally, Christian remembered
that he had a key in his bosom with which he might be able to
pick the lock of the door to their prison and escape. And
Hopeful said, What is it? And he pulled it out and he said,
It's promise. And with that key in his bosom,
God had given him, he picked the lock And they escaped from
the dungeon, escaped from Doubting Castle, escaped from giant despair,
and found their way back in the way in which they should go.
When I read that last week, I immediately began to think of Isaiah's word
here in Isaiah chapter 42, 43, 44, and 45. Obviously, I'm not going to give
an exposition of these chapters. Rather, I want us to go through
these chapters and let me be like a granddaddy with his grandchildren
in a candy store. I'm just going to pick up candy
sticks all along the way, and I don't want to miss a single
one. So I want to be very brief with each one, but I want you
to see these blessed promises by which God Almighty sweetly
sustains His people in this world. The chapter 42 clearly is talking
about our Lord Jesus Christ. It's describing our Redeemer
who is Jehovah's righteous servant. You read in Exodus 25 about the
law of the bond slave, and the reason the law was given was
to be a picture and a type of our Redeemer, who himself is
Jehovah's voluntary servant, who before the world began gave
himself and gave his pledges, our surety, to be our Redeemer,
to bring in everlasting righteousness, to put away our sins, and to
save his people by the sacrifice of himself. Look at verse 1,
chapter 42. 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, that is, righteousness and justice
to the Gentiles. He will bring forth God's salvation
to the Gentiles. It was always God's purpose that
He would gather His elect from the four corners of the earth,
never His purpose that His kingdom be limited just to the children
of Israel after the flesh. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets. He'll never be
frustrated. He'll never be in any way hindered. He'll never in any way pause. He'll never call on anyone to
give him assistance. This is Jehovah's servant. A
bruised reed shall he not break. A bruised reed. Do you know what that is? Brian,
that's just about the most useless thing in the world. You can't
blow through it and make music with it. You can't shoot darts
with it. You can't stack it up and build
on it. It's a bruised reed. I pray God will do that for you.
To make you to know that you are worthless. Utterly worthless. Utterly useless. Completely insignificant
in your nature. Utterly useless without the Redeemer. He promises a bruised reed shall
he not break. Read on. And the smoking flax. Well, maybe there's something
even more worthless than a bruised reed. Smoking flax doesn't give
off any light. Just smoke and soot and smells
bad. But the smoking flax shall he
not quench. You see, there's hope for sinners
who know themselves sinners before God. There's hope for men and
women whom the Lord God lays low in the dust, whom he strips
and empties and slays. And he always empties before
he fills. He always strips before he clothes. He always slays before he makes
a lie. Read on. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. By mercy and by truth iniquities
purged. He shall not fail. Now, underscore those words.
Underscore them in your Bible. Underscore them in your mind.
Underscore them in your thoughts concerning the Redeemer. Any
thought, any doctrine, any suggestion of even a possibility of failure
with Jesus Christ is to deny that Jesus is the Christ, the
Messiah, God's darling Son. Many would have us to believe
that Christ tries to save but fails. Wants to save, but fails. Died to redeem some, but fails
to redeem them. He shall not fail. Failure is an impossibility with
He who is God. And to suggest failure and divinity
at the same time is to deny divinity altogether. It is utterly blasphemous. to suggest that Jesus Christ,
God the Son, might fail in anything. He shall not fail. He shall not
be discouraged till he's finished his work, till he has set judgment,
righteousness, justice in the earth by the sacrifice of himself. And the isles, that is, the nations
of God's elect among the Gentiles, shall wait for his law. Now skip
down to verse 16. The prophecy is about our Redeemer.
But in this portion of Isaiah's prophecy, Isaiah describes God's
elect, God's chosen, and exposes our sin our depravity, our departures
from our God, exposes the evil of our behavior just as he exposes
the evil of the behavior of those whom the Lord God passes by.
As if to make certain we understand that the only difference between
you and me and those in hell tonight is the difference God's
grace has made. There is no other difference.
The only distinction is distinguishing grace. There is none other. The
only thing that separates us from any reprobate sinner anywhere
in the universe is the fact that God Almighty chose us, redeemed
us, and called us by his grace, giving us union with his Son
from everlasting to everlasting. And as he does this, he speaks
of our Redeemer and makes promises both concerning redemption and
promises to you and I who are his redeemed. Look at verse 16.
I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. I will lead
them in paths 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." We were
blind, but now we see because God has given us light, given
us eyes to behold his kingdom. eyes to see Him, eyes to see
His Son. He's given us to walk in paths
of grace and righteousness and faith that we knew not before.
And He promises that He will do this forever, never forsaking
us. I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. Now, let's move on to chapter
43. Our subject tonight is cheering promises
for Zion's pilgrims. The Lord God uses two terms in
this chapter to refer to his people. He calls us Jacob, and
he calls us Israel. He would never have us forget
either. This is what we are by nature. This is what we were when God
called us by his grace. This is what we are now by nature. Jacob, weak, shifting, deceitful,
cunning, sinful, vile, as unstable as water. Jacob, that's you and
that's me. That's what we are. And then
he calls his people Israel. Israel. A prince with God. You and I are men who prevail
with God. Imagine that. Princes with God. Israel. The Lord speaks here
and says, Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and
he that formed thee, O Israel. Ever remember, in Christ, with
Christ, God delights in us as His Israel, and we ever prevail
with God. And ever remember, you're just
Jacob, and keep your face in the dust before His throne. Three
times the Lord says, fear not, fear not. I take that to mean
The Lord God our Savior would quieten our fears, and we're
terribly prone to fear. We're terribly prone to it. And
the sad thing is that we only fear things that haven't happened.
I don't ever remember fretting about anything that was past,
do you? I don't ever remember being at all concerned about
anything that was over with. But now, what might be? That
can give me a lot of trouble. And the Lord God here speaks
to our basic need of encouragement to trust Him. And in these words
He gives us, He's quietening our fears. Three times He says,
fear not, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid,
no matter what you face. No matter what comes around the
corner, no matter how dark the night, there's no reason, Jacob,
no reason, Israel, for you ever to fear. And then he begins to
give us reasons. Look at it. For I have redeemed
thee. Christ has redeemed you by the
price of his precious blood and by the power of his omnipotent
grace. And if He's redeemed you, if
He's redeemed me, nothing and no one can harm us. Nothing and no one shall ever
do us harm. He bought us at too dear a price
for anything to happen to us. Now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not,
for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine." Several years ago, Brother Scott Richardson
was preaching for us over in Danville, and I recall him making
this statement, and I heard him make it several times since.
He said, There's been no bad news since I got the good news. No bad news. Since I've got the
good news, I've redeemed thee. And the second thing, I've called
thee by thy name. I redeemed you, and I called
you. I called you personally. I called
you distinctly by name. I called you effectually. I called you irresistibly. I called you efficaciously. Brother John, what does all that
mean? That means I called you in such a way that you couldn't
help but come. I called you in such a way as to bring you to
myself. I was raised in the city, but
I had kinfolks, like most folks did, who lived in the country.
And when my grandparents would send me out to get water from
the well, you know what they'd tell me to do? They'd tell me
to go draw some water. You know, I never once dreamed
they meant for me to go to the edge of the well, and set the
bucket up there, and call for the water to come get in the
bucket. Why just a little, Sheriff? I knew better than that. They
intended for me to let down the bucket, get some water, and fetch
it to the house. That's what the drawing of God's
Spirit is. It's not just a tender influence
inclining me, and maybe it has some disposition to come to Christ.
Oh, no. I've called you by the power
of omnipotent mercy." That's the reason you're mine. Oh, how
I thank God there are some people in this world from whom he won't
take no for an answer. I've called thee by thy name. He said, don't forget I bought
you, I sought you, I called you and graciously forced you to
come to me when you were terrified. When you came, I received you,
and received you graciously." Read on. Thou art mine. You belong to God Almighty. You belong to God Almighty. You're a royal diadem in the
crown of His glory. You are His jewels whom He's
chosen for Himself, His crown jewels, God's property, God's
possession, God's child, God's ransomed, God's called ones. That means that you're under
God's special protection. and God's special provision all
the time. All the time. You belong to me.
God says you're mine. Look at verse 2. When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers
they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Oh yes, you must go through the deep waters of trouble,
and the rivers of woe, and the fiery furnace of affliction.
You must, but you will soon pass through them, and they will do
you no harm." No harm. Because the Redeemer
says this fourth thing, I will be with Wherever God by His providence
puts you, He's with you, in sympathy and in power to take care of
you, whether you realize it or don't, whether you feel it or
don't. whether you see it or don't. The Lord God says, when you pass
through the waters and through the rivers and through the fire,
I will be with thee. What does that mean? That means
the rivers will never rise over you. The fire will never burn
you. The flame will not kindle upon
you. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
were cast into the burning and fiery furnace, Do you remember
what happened to them? Do you remember what happened
to them? Nothing. They didn't even smell like they'd
been in a smoke room. They came out of there. The only
thing that happened was the fire that was intended by their great
foes to destroy them only burned up the wreaths that bound them.
That's all. That's all. I don't pretend to
know much about this thing of trial and heartache. I've known
so very, very little. I have a lot of friends who've
known much. But I'll tell you what I've experienced,
and what I've experienced. I have never yet, since God called
me by His grace just before my seventeenth birthday, I've never
yet had an experience that I regretted and wish I could do over. Not
one. I've had a bunch I would never
have chosen. A bunch I would never have chosen.
I would have done anything in my power to avoid them. That's
on the other side. But coming through this side
and looking back, and I only see a little bit.
Now, I don't see all that God's done in this. I just see a little
bit. Bob Coffey, I thank God for every tear and every heartache
and every trial. I wouldn't undo a one. This has been God's path by which
to teach me to instruct me and to bless me in ways in which
I could not otherwise have been blessed. Number five, look at
verse three. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Sheba for thee. He says, I am the Lord thy God. That is, I am Jehovah, the Almighty
God, the omnipotent triune Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
the Holy One of Israel, always faithful and always true. And
I'm your God. I'm your God. He devotes Himself to you. He
devotes Himself to you. We don't. Here's the sixth day.
I am thy Savior. When he says, I gave Egypt for
thy ransom, Ethiopia and Sema for thee, our Lord is saying,
there's nothing I won't do for you. No sacrifice I won't make
for you. Oh, no. Nothing. This is the
logic of heaven. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things?" Look at verse 4, "...since thou wast
precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved
thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee, and people for thy ransom." Since thou wast precious in my
sight. Oh, what a word that is from God. You're looking at a man who's
never been valued by anyone until I met that pretty blonde back
yonder. And rightly so. And rightly so. But God Almighty
valued me from everlasting. He said, you're precious in my
sight. Highly esteemed. Of great worth. Of great worth
to me. Since thou wast precious in my
sight, thou hast been honorable." It's not that you became precious
because you were honorable. Oh, no, no, no, no. No, because
you're precious in my sight, you've been honorable. God accepted
us in the Beloved wherever the world was, and delighted in us
in His Son. His delights were with the sons
of men from everlasting, so that from everlasting in Christ, one
with Christ, we are honorable before God. Read on. Here's the
ninth thing. I have loved thee. Let men and women talk all they
please about useless universal love. People talk about the love
of God and the love of Christ and say that God loves everybody.
If there's a sense in which God loves everybody, there's a sense
in which God's love is meaningless. If there's a sense in which God
loves everybody, there's a sense in which God's love is useless.
If God loves folks in hell, what good is his love? If God loves
folks who perish in His wrath, of what benefit is His love?
Universal love is meaningless love. The Lord God says, I have
loved thee. And because I loved you, I gave
Egypt for you, and Ethiopia for you, and Saba for you, and men
for you, and people for your life. Now, what else was it you
needed? What else? God raises up nations and puts
down nations for one reason, and that's the salvation of His
elect for the glory of His name. And that includes all nations,
this one too. God raises up nations and puts
down nations, sacrifices nations of men for the saving of His
people. He always has. He does now, and
He will tomorrow. God says, I have loved thee.
If God loves me, then all is well. Look at verse 5. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather them from the west. I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. That is, I'll fetch
my elect from the four corners of the earth, bring my sons from
far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even every
one that is called by my name, for I have created him for my
glory. I formed him, yea, I've made
him. I am with thee." In verse 2 he
said, I will be with thee. Here he says, I am with thee.
He's with you right now. Right now. Paul puts it this
way, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your
moderation be known unto all men. What a great word. It is translated in the, I think
it's 1 Corinthians 10, referring to our Lord Jesus, gentleness,
the gentleness of Christ. Let your gentleness be known
to all men. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again,
I say rejoice. Let your moderation, your ease,
your comfortable disposition, your contentment with God's providence,
your ease with God ruling the universe, your ease with God
disposing of all things, your ease with God as your Father
and you as His precious people. Let your moderation be known
to all men. The Lord's at hand. The Lord's
at hand. He's got at your elbow. The Lord's
at hand. He's always there. Always there.
Look at the next one. I have created you for my glory. I think I can say this and not
be misunderstood by you. I like to take things personal.
I like to interpret scripture as personally as I possibly can. Either what I'm about to tell
you is the height of arrogant presumption, or it is confident
faith in my Redeemer, one of the two. The glory of God is
at stake in the salvation of my soul. The glory of God. He said, I've
created you for my glory, for my glory. God Almighty will not
have his glory diminished, but rather his glory set forth in
the everlasting salvation of my soul. Look at verse 13. Yea, before the day was, I am
he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will
work, and who shall make it? Nobody's going to stop what I've
begun. Nobody's going to hinder me in
my work. All right, here's another blessed,
blessed piece of candy in the store. There is none that can
deliver out of my hand. When God created the universe, there was no opposition. Nothing
stood in his way. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. When God, in the beginning of
time, began the wise, orderly disposition of providence, accomplishing
his purpose, all of providence, everything in heaven, earth,
and hell, stood compliant with God, willingly or unwillingly. Satan's roar was not in any way
contrary to God's purpose. Oh, no. Adam's fall was not in
any way contrary to God's purpose. Everything completely compliant,
working God's purpose exactly as He ordained. And so it is
with the saving of our souls. Sovereignly works everything
to our good, to the benefit of our souls, and he will keep us
as his own. None can deliver you out of my
hands. I have a friend I hear from,
oh, sometimes two or three times a year, lives out in Tintay,
Arizona. He used to be a professional
golfer. He was in an accident and lost his right arm. He makes
peeing golf clubs. I get a letter from him, email
usually, two or three times a year, and he always signs it this way, in his crib. Oh, that's the place to be. He
says, they shall never perish. For no man can pluck them out
of my hands, none can pluck them from my Father's hand. We're
in the grip of God's omnipotent grace. Move on. Skip down to
verse 19. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth. Shall
ye not know it? I will even make a way in the
wilderness and rivers in the desert. God says to you, His pilgrims,
just as He said to the children of Israel, I will make a way
for you in this wilderness. You go back and read the history
of Israel, and they're going from Egypt to Canaan. What was it? About a ten-day
trip took them 40 years. They went this way, and that
way, and this way, and that way. And it looked like they were
headed back to Egypt about half the time. But God says, I led
you in a straight path. You see, the path by which God
directs us through this wilderness is ordered exactly according
to his purpose. And it is the most direct path
for our souls. to Canaan's fair and happy land. It is the path God chose for
you, orders for you, and he orders your steps in the way. And along
the way, he says, I'll make rivers in the desert, a river flowing
from the very throne of God. Christ Jesus the Lord. Look at
verse 21. This people have I formed for They shall show forth my praise. Folks who know God's grace give
God praise for His grace. But that's not all. That's not
all. Read the fifth chapter of Revelation. There's a whole host of ransom
sinners. With Christ in glory, make kings
and priests unto God, waiting with Him forever. And the Lord
God describes them in Ephesians 2, it says, In that day, I'll
paraphrase this, I'm going to take you and I'm going to set
you before wandering worlds and forever declare, look here, what
my grace has done. You shall forever show forth
the praise of the triune God who loved you and gave himself
for you. Look at verse 21, and learn why
God made us and what he swore he would do. This people have
I formed for myself and they shall show forth my praise. Now, verse 25, I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions
for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." Your transgressions, all of them,
past, present, and future, blotted out, blotted out. Not just erase them, not just
scratch through them, blot it out. And we'll not remember your
sins. How can God not remember our
sins? God knows everything. He doesn't
know what isn't. Christ put our sins We are made before God to stand
without sin in His Son, holy, harmless, and undefiled as one
with His Son. He says, I won't remember your
transgressions. I blotted that out. That's over
with. That's over with. It's done. Forever done. But
doesn't the Lord chasten us? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But He doesn't
deal with our sins as crimes to be punished. He deals with
our sins as sicknesses to be healed. And He chastens us not
because He's angry with us, but because He's not. Not because
He would punish us, but because He won't. Because he loves us
as his sons. Look at verse 21. Remember these,
O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed
thee. Thou art my servant, O Israel.
Thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Return to
me. Return to me. Isn't it amazing? Oh my God, how sadly amazing
that I am so willing to abandon Him and He pleads with me to
return to Him because I've redeemed you. I won't forget you and I
won't let you go. Thou shalt not be forgotten in
me, for I have redeemed thee. When my father and my mother
forsake me, the Lord will take me up." All
right, look at chapter 45, verse 2. Let me show you three or four
more blessed, blessed sweets here. I will go before thee. and make the crooked faces straight.
I will break in pieces the gates of brass. I'll cut and sunder
the bars of iron. I'll go before them. Ancient
kings, I'm told, led their troops in battle. They gained and maintained
the respect of the troops they led, because they didn't send
them into battle, they led at the forefront in the battle.
Here our Redeemer says, I will go before you. He always walks
in the front, clearing the road, paving the way with grace, breaking
down the gates of hell, smashing the locks and kicking down the
bars of our prison. Verse 3. I will give thee the
treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that
thou mayest know that I, the Lord which call thee by thy name,
am the God of Israel." You may be in darkness now. If not, I promise you, if you
are God's before many more days you will be. Darkness. Darkness. Children of light often
walk in darkness. But there's a good reason. Now,
I have never been at the bottom of a deep well, but I'm told.
I'm told that looking up from the bottom of a deep well, you
can see stars in the heavens. that are utterly impossible to
be seen by the naked eye except from that dark, dark hole in
the earth. Whether that's so or not, you
can find out from somebody else. But I know this is so. The Lord
God Almighty in darkness shows us rich treasures we could not
otherwise see. makes known to us things we could
not otherwise know, and makes himself known in ways we could
not otherwise know him. And then he promises, Israel
shall be saved in the Lord with everlasting salvation. That's
God's elect. Saved in the Lord of Him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. Saved by blood and saved by grace
and saved forever with everlasting salvation. One more sweet, sweet
promise from God. Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded. without end. There are a lot of things, loose
ends here, a lot of things that confuse
me. That wasn't true when I was 20
years old. Nothing confused me then. But
there are a lot of things that confuse me now, a lot of things
I just don't understand. But soon things are going to
be gloriously different. You who believe soon shall not
be ashamed of anything. Oh, soon. This face will never
blush with shame again. Never. Never. Ever. You'll not be confused, confounded,
or put to confusion, not shaken by anyone or anything ever again. Not be ashamed or confounded,
world without end, to the endless ages of eternity. Farther along, we'll know all
about it. Farther along, we'll understand
why. Cheer up, my brother. Live in
the sunshine. We'll understand it all by and
by. Faithful to death, said our loving
Master, a few more days to labor and wait. These troubles and sorrows will
then seem as nothing as we sweep through the beautiful gate. When
we see Jesus coming in glory, when He comes from His home in
the sky, then we shall see Him in that bright mansion. We'll
understand it all by and by. Soon we'll see our dear, loving
Savior, hear His last trumpet sound through the sky, And then
we will meet those going on before us, and we'll understand it and
know why. Farther along, we'll know all
about it. Farther along, we'll understand
why. Cheer up, my brother. Live in
the sunshine. Soon we will look through over the hours of time in God's
providence. And we'll understand and we'll
say, well, thank God. That's the way you did things.
Amen. Thank you.