Matthew chapter 12. I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said in verse 18. Matthew 12 verse 18. Behold my servant. Behold my servant. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's God's servant, special servant. He's the Savior, he's a surety,
but he is a servant of the Lord. What a true and faithful servant
the Lord Jesus Christ is. As the Son of Man, The Son of
God became the Son of Man, but He is God's faithful servant
in all things. Faithful servant. In Isaiah 53,
you remember, He's called, God said, He's my righteous servant. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
He did no sin. He is God's faithful servant. And He's our Savior. He's our
Savior. Now, we know that Jesus Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, fulfilled What is said there in Isaiah
42, for the Lord said in verse 17 that it might be fulfilled
which is spoken by Isaiah. The Lord Jesus was always about
fulfilling the Holy Word and will of God. He's a fulfillment
not only of all the prophecy of Isaiah, but also the whole
Old Testament Scripture is all about Him. the Lord Jesus. It's all about Him. The smitten
rock, Noah's ark, the smitten rock, the brazen serpent lifted
up, the bread from heaven, all those things preach to us the
gospel of the Lord Jesus. Remember our Lord said to those
Pharisees on another occasion, you do search the scriptures,
they are they which testify of me. To Him give all the prophets
witness, every prophet of God, All the way back from Genesis,
all the way through. Malachi is all about Christ. Someone's coming. Someone's coming. The Lord Jesus Christ prophesied
of Him who is coming. And then the Gospels, they say,
He's here. And then the Epistles say, He's
coming back. This same Jesus will come back
again. Now, some preacher of the past,
and I don't know exactly who it was, I thought this was a
good statement about the Old Testament and New Testament.
He said the Old Testament Scripture is the New Testament. The Old
Testament is the New Testament foretold about Christ. That is,
in the Old Testament there is a concealed message about the
coming, the prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the New Testament
is the Old Testament fulfilled. It's fulfilled by the Lord Jesus
Christ. by him. Now we see in verse 14
when the Lord went to the synagogue as his custom was on the Sabbath
day which was Saturday, he went there to worship according to
the law of God and he healed this man who had this withered
hand and then we see the response of that in verse 14. The Pharisees
went out, and we know who the Pharisees were. They were the
very self-righteous who were going about to establish a righteousness
by their own doing. The Pharisees went out, and they
held a council. They held a council. They convened
a council, or they took council together against him, how they
might destroy him. Now you see something of the
wickedness of humanity. The Lord did an act of mercy
on this poor man and they, rather than rejoicing, rebelled against
God. The Lord Jesus Christ fully demonstrated
that he is the Lord of the Sabbath. healing this man on the Sabbath
day. And we know that some were thankful
and some were blessed of God. Certainly this man was thankful.
And no doubt his family was thankful. But we see others in the synagogue
there, the very self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes,
they were angry. So much so that were ready to
kill him. It says at this same occasion,
recorded in Luke chapter 6, He says they were filled with madness
and communed with one another what they might do with the Lord
Jesus Christ. So some got angry, some got mad,
but some got glad. Some were glad. And we see the
same thing today when the gospel is preached. The gospel to some
is a sweet savor of life unto life, to others is a savor of
death unto death. And the reason why is because
the carnal mind is enmity against God. The carnal mind is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be, so that they who are
in the flesh, they cannot please God. Man's natural response to
the absolute sovereignty of God, Lord of the Sabbath, Our natural
response to that is rebellion against God. We see again the
wickedness of our own rotten heart. The natural man receives
not the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness
to him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. Over in the book of Acts, you
remember we studied the book of Acts in chapter 4 where it
talks about Herod and Pilate and the Jews and the Gentiles
were all gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ
to do against Him whatsoever God determined before to be done.
Their rebellion against the Savior was decreed and appointed of
God. Now, look at verse 15 and 16. When Jesus knew When he knew
their thoughts, he knew their motives, he didn't go after them
and saying, now wait a minute, wait a minute, let's change your
mind about this. He didn't go out and try to explain himself
or excuse himself. When Jesus knew their wicked
motive, their wicked thoughts, he simply walked away from them.
He withdrew himself from them. But watch this, great multitudes
followed him, And he healed them all. He healed them all. The
Lord Jesus Christ was always about doing the will and work
of the Father, always about doing the Father's business. He said,
my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish
His work. The Lord withdrew Himself from those who hated Him because
He knew their wicked heart and their wicked motives. As God,
He knows our thoughts and intents. He knows your heart, your thoughts,
This is the God with whom we have to do. You see, all things
are naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have
to do. I thought of this scripture in John chapter 2, I've written
it down for me, for us here. But in John chapter 2, remember
it said, The Lord Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because
he knew all men, and needed not that any man should testify of
him, for he knew what was in man. He knows all about the wickedness
of our minds, our thoughts, Remember, our Lord said this in Genesis
chapter 6 in Noah's day. And what was true in Noah's day
is still true in our day. God saw the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. You see, the Lord knows all things. And He knew what they were doing.
And He withdrew Himself. But watch this. Multitudes followed
Him. Now, I mentioned in the reading,
how many people you think followed him? If you turn over here just
a couple pages, over here to Matthew 14, when he fed the multitude
with five loaves and two fishes, and he commanded the multitude
to sit down, this is Matthew 14 verse 19, And He took the
two fishes, the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to
heaven, and He blessed and break and gave the loaves to the disciples
and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat and were
filled. And they took up fragments. There
remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were
about five thousand men beside the women and children. So when
it says multitudes followed Him, we're talking about Thousands
of people. Thousands of people. Those who
were following Him, what were they doing? They were seeking
mercy. That's what they were doing.
They were seeking help. They were seeking Him because
they needed something. They needed Him. And we have
a hint of what it was in the last part of verse 15. He says
that He healed them. He healed them. He healed every
one of those sinners. Those who were seeking mercy
were healed. Do you ever notice how many times
in our study in Matthew that the Lord received sinners and
He healed them? Turn back to Matthew chapter
4. We've seen this several times. Matthew chapter 4. It says in
Luke 9 verse 11, that He received them and spake unto them, and
He healed all them that had need of healing. Now remember Matthew
chapter 4 verse 23, And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching
in the synagogue, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing
all manner of sickness, all manner of disease among the people. Those broken reeds and those
flickering dim lights turn again to, I believe it's Matthew 9,
verse 35. We see this again, Matthew 9,
35, when the Lord had healed this man that was possessed with
the devil, and the Pharisees, they said again, well, he cast
out devils through the print of devils. Verse 35, Matthew
9, Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogue and preaching the gospel of kingdom and healing every
sickness and every disease among the people. Now that ought to
encourage every sinner in need of mercy to seek mercy where
it's found, where it's revealed, in Christ himself, in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I've noticed this in the
years that I've studied the Word of God, and I've been at it for
a few years. I've never read one time, one
case, where the Lord of Glory ever turned a mercy beggar away.
Not one time. Everyone who came to Him in need
of mercy, they were healed. They were healed. You remember
it says over here, don't turn because you're familiar with
this, When the Pharisees complained, they said, why does your master
eat with publicans and sinners? And the Lord heard them, and
he said, they that behold don't need a physician but they who
are sick. Go ye, learn what that means. Thou will have mercy and
not sacrifice. I'm not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ delights
to show mercy to such as we are. He said, come boldly unto the
throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in our time of need. Now remember our message from
Matthew chapter 11, verse 28. Matthew 11, 28. What did He say
to those people who were laboring and heavy laden, laboring with
guilt and sin burdens come unto me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, I will give you rest. I will. And you shall find
rest for your soul. Now look at verse 17 in Matthew
12. Everything our Lord did, He said
in verse 16, He charged them, they should not make Him known. In verse 16. that it might be
fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah, Isaiah the prophet. Everything
our Lord Jesus Christ did as a son of man as the Savior of
sinners, as the surety of the covenant, was for His covenant
children and unto the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything
He did was in fulfilling the Word of God. Now let me show
you an interesting Scripture. Most of you are familiar with
this, but if you'll find the book of Luke, chapter 24 in the
book of Luke, He said, these things were done that the Scripture
might be fulfilled. that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Okay, Luke 24, the risen Lord joined himself to these two men
on the road to Emmaus, and verse 25, the Lord said, O fool, slow
of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought
not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his
glory? And He said there, And beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures the thing concerning..." What's it all about? Talking
about Old Testament Scripture? "...about Himself." I'd love
to have heard that sermon. Again, in Luke 24, verse 44,
Luke 24, verse 44, the risen Lord appearing to his disciples, and
he said, These are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the
Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their understanding
that they might understand the Scriptures." It's all about the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's all about fulfilling the
Word of God. And he was doing that as our
substitute. Honoring the law of God as our
substitute. He's fulfilling all things for
us. Here's another good example of
the same thing that's said there in Matthew 12. Turn to Luke chapter
4. Luke chapter 4. Another occasion when he was
in the synagogue of the Jews in his home city of Nazareth.
Remember? In Luke chapter 4. Verse 16,
and he came to Natchez where he'd been brought up, and his
custom was he went into the synagogue on a Sabbath day and stood up
to read. Now here's another occasion he
did the same thing. And there was delivered unto
him the book of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened
the book, he found a place where it was written, this is Isaiah
61, now, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captive, recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the
book, gave it again to the minister and sat down and the eyes of
all them were fastened in the synagogue were fastened on him
and here's what he said. Is this scripture fulfilled in
your ears? The Lord Jesus Christ came as
God's appointed Messiah, fulfilling all the word of God, all the
law of God, every prophet, every detail of every prophet, the
Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled every jot and chisel. Why is that so
important to us? Well, a couple of reasons. One,
that he might honor the law of God. It says there in that same
chapter, Isaiah 42, verse 21, that he will magnify the law
of God and honor it, and to enable God to be a just God and Savior. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law and the prophets. In Matthew 5, 17, I came to honor
the law of God for my people. Now, that gets us down to this
quotation. found in Isaiah 42, but here
we have it in Matthew chapter 12 verse 18. Behold my servant. Behold my servant. Now that word
behold there, it doesn't mean just to take a glance, take a
glancing look. It means to stay there. It's
to stay put and to look at Christ. Behold his beauty, behold his
glory. Behold my servant, that's what
the eyes of faith do, looking unto Jesus. God said behold my
servant, he's my elect, he's my chosen, he's my beloved, my
soul is well pleased with him, I put my spirit upon him and
he shall bring judgment against sin, and through that judgment
against sin, He shall save sinners, having paid our debt, bearing
our sin, and His own body on the tree. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the elect, special servant, chosen by the Father, specially
chosen and sent to glorify God in the saving of His people.
In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son. This is God
the father sending God the son. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law
to redeem them that were under the law. You reckon he got it
done? Absolutely. Absolutely. He said, father,
I've glorified thee on earth. I finished the work you gave
me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou
me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was. That's John 17. Paul writes this
about the Lord Jesus Christ being the servant, the Son of Man,
who is the Son of God, who is the Savior of sinners, who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself with no reputation, took upon Him the
form of a servant. Now think about that. the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name, that at that name every knee will bow, every tongue will
confess that he is Lord to the glory of God, God the Father. My beloved son, in whom I am
well pleased, behold my servant, whom I've chosen. Now Isaiah
42 said, He's my elect. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
elect. We are chosen in Him. Election
is all about Christ and us being chosen in Him. My beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. God speaks from heaven not once
but twice and every time He speaks from heaven He said, This is
my beloved Son I'm well pleased with him. I'm well pleased with
him. And think about this. Because
we're so one with him, and because we, as his body, his church,
are in him, when God said, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased,
he says that of everyone in Christ. God says that of you right now,
resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called sons of God.
God is well pleased with the Lord Jesus Christ and all his
elect in him. One old songwriter of years ago
said, Christ be my first elect, he said, and then he chose us
in our head. He is the elect. We are chosen
in him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy without blame before him in love. All of our salvation
is grounded upon and owing to God the Father being well pleased
with everything the Lord Jesus Christ did. He performed all
things for us. He said, my meat is to do the
will of him that sent me and to finish his work. God is well
pleased and satisfied with what he did. How do we know that?
How do we know that? Well, his word teaches us that.
But the grand evidence of everything Christ did was satisfying unto
God is that he raised him from the dead. He's seated at the
right hand of God. satisfying all God's law and
justice for us. Now, he said, I'll put my spirit
upon him. Now, this is talking about the
God-man mediator. Now, as God, he has all things
that the Father has. The Father and the Son are one.
What's true of the Father is true of the Son. But here he's
speaking the Word of God, speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ being
the mediator. born of a woman, born under the
law. God said, I'll put my spirit
upon him. We read that a moment ago in
Luke chapter 4, fulfillment in Isaiah 61. The Lord Jesus Christ,
as the God-man, had the Spirit of God without measure, abundantly. Now, we too have the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit as believers, but we have that in a measure,
don't we? The Lord Jesus Christ had the indwelling of God the
Holy Spirit, God the Spirit, without measure. Now, how do
you explain that? I don't know. In Him dwells all
the fullness of a Godhead bodily. In the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ, He contains the fullness of God. Figure that out. He is
God. And yet, He's the God-man. The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me. John 3, 34 says he had the Spirit
without measure. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Now, it says in the last part
of verse 18 there, he shall show or bring judgment to sinners. Now, what does sin deserve? Judgment. Judgment. The sin of God's elect
was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and our sin was fully
judged in Him. There is therefore now then,
because Christ bearing our sin in His own body on the tree,
there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He brought forth judgment. Judgment
and the wrath of God fell on Him, And He put away our sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. Now, what do we have as a result
of that? Salvation, eternal life, redemption, the fullness of salvation
in Him. And notice, it's given specifically
here, He shall show judgment, the judgment of our sin to the
Gentiles. And then again he says in verse
21, in his name shall the Gentiles trust. It seemed to be an emphasis
put upon Gentiles who were known as vile, wretched, ungodly sinners. Those are the very ones the Lord
Jesus Christ came to save. We were Gentile without God,
without hope, and without Christ, but now in the Lord Jesus Christ,
we're made nigh unto Him through the blood atonement of our blessed
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. God has an elect people out of
every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven. And
they sing unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin
in His own blood. Now that gets us down to verse
19, where it says there, He shall not strive. He shall not strive. Neither shall any man hear his
voice in the street." Now, I looked a long time at that scripture
because we know the Lord Jesus Christ publicly preached the
gospel to many people, but I get the sense of, and And I think
from reading verse 16 in this text here, he said he charged
them that they should not make him known. The Lord was not about
trying to advertise himself or to promote himself. It was all
about the glory of God. The Lord Jesus Christ was not
a beggar in the street begging people to let him have his way. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
not a beggar today. He was an enthroned, he's an
enthroned king now, but when he walked among men, who was
he? God Almighty in the flesh. And he did not use the means
and method that men use in that day or this day to strive or
to cry or to advertise to get a following, to get a crowd.
He simply commands and people follow him. Now I like verse
20 because because I'm that bruised reed. I like verse 20 because I'm that
smoking, that dimly lit oil-burning lamp that he's not going to snuff
out. He's not going to do that because
he is sent forth judgment unto truth. He's sent forth judgment
unto victory. What do we have in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Victory. Victory over sin, he put it away.
Victory over Satan, he crushed his dominion. Victory over the
law of God, he honored it, magnified it, precept and penalty. We have
victory over all things, even death. Our Lord said, I'm he
that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive. I'm alive
forevermore. A bruised reed. Sometimes when I'm out weeding
my garden and I try to be real careful, not to get too close
with my hoe to the little bruise, to the bean or the corn, because
I don't want to bruise that little frail plant. I want it to grow. I want it to cultivate. And the
Lord Jesus Christ, these sinners that are broken, broken because
of their sin, broken because they've been convicted by God
of their sin, the Lord Jesus Christ is not going to break
us and break us and break us. He's nigh unto them of a broken
heart. He saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit. He shall not fully break us. He will break us. But you remember
what we read a moment ago? He heals the broken heart. He heals the broken hearted,
doesn't he? Our Savior is a compassionate, tender Savior. A bruised reed
will He not break. He came to heal those who were
bruised. He came to set the captive free.
Those sinners broken and convicted because of their sin against
God, He will not destroy, but rather heal and comfort them.
For He came, not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
There's an old rock and roll song Some of you older ones will
remember. It's an old Gene Pitney song. You remember Gene Pitney? Some
of you older ones will remember. But I grew up in the 60s, and
this was a popular song. And I was going to try to sing
it to you, but I'm backing down. But the lines of that song, you
remember, only love can break a heart. Only love can mend it
again. But I've revised the word to
that. Only Christ can break a heart. Only Christ can mend it again. You'll listen to that song. Next
time you hear it, just think of Christ, Christ, Christ. Those sinners who are broken,
he will heal. Those sinners who have just a
dimly lit oil lamp, the Lord will cause the light of salvation
to flame up. into a glorious, glorious vision
of Christ and Him crucified, they will be made to grow in
grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those,
God, who have begun a good work in you will complete it, will
finish it, He will send forth the victory. We have the victory
in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Those broken, struggling, those
with a small life, they will have the victory over sin, death,
hell, and the grave, over the law, over Satan, over all enemies.
For the Scripture says we're more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. And then Paul, when he writes
that 15th chapter, the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, it's all about
death and resurrection. When he writes about that, he
finally comes to this conclusion. Thanks be unto God who has given
us the victory, victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. And because
of that victory that Christ has won for us, the victory that
Christ has won for us. In His name, that name which
is above every name, no name under heaven, given among men
whereby we must be saved, in His name sinners shall trust. We trust Him. We trust Him with
all of our salvation. Now, it's not given in this text
that one statement that's made in Isaiah 42, 4, but it certainly
is implied, he shall not fail nor be defeated. Never think
of Christ crucified as a defeat. It's victory. Victory. Victory over sin, victory over
death, victory over all things. The Lord Jesus Christ, and here's
my closing Here's my closing statement. The Lord Jesus Christ
cannot fail. You are trusting the unfailing
God. Great is his faithfulness. He
cannot fail. I thought about several things
about which he cannot fail. Everything in which he undertakes,
everything which he says will be fulfilled, everything he undertakes
will be successful. But his love for us cannot fail,
can it? You remember 1 Corinthians 13,
where it said, Love never faileth. That's the love of Christ. He's
loved us with an everlasting love. Love cannot fail. Christ's
love for us cannot fail. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. His love is unfailing, like himself. And then, how about His mercy? His mercy cannot fail, can it?
His mercies are new every morning. new every morning, not by works
of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy,
he saved us. And then his grace, his grace
cannot fail. He doesn't know anything. This
word of God doesn't say anything about God's grace failed us. He's called the God of all grace,
who will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. And then his
love cannot fail. His mercy cannot fail. His grace
cannot fail. His covenant cannot fail, order
than all things, and is sure. It's a better covenant that brings
us better hope. And all of His promises, His
word cannot fail. He said heaven and earth's gonna
pass away, remember? But my word will never pass away.
All the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him, and amen,
unto the glory of God. by the Lord Jesus Christ. And
sinners are blessed to trust Him at all times and to pour
out our heart before Him. He is our refuge. In His name
shall Gentiles, sinners just like us, sinners just like you,
will trust Him. Trust Him.