This morning for our Bible study,
let's turn to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 42. And let's
begin reading in verse 1. Isaiah 42 verse 1. We'll read the first four verses.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, and whom my soul
delighteth. I put my spirit upon him, he
shall bring forth salvation. to sinners, salvation to the
Gentiles. Now this promise here is a promise
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the righteous servant
of God. And then we read in Isaiah 42,
verse 2, he shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice
to be heard in the street. His ministry was unusual and
unique. Verse 3, a bruised reed shall
he not break, and a smoking flack shall he not quench. He shall. Bring forth judgment, justice
unto truth, and victory. He was a victorious, conquering
servant of God. And then in verse 4, this is
Isaiah, chapter 42, verse 4. And here's the verse we want
to spend a little time on this morning. He shall not fail. Now we're talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ who is called the servant of God. He's called the
elect of God. And then it says of him and his
ministry, he shall not fail. He shall not be discouraged.
He shall not be defeated. until he has accomplished salvation
in the earth. And all far places, the isles
of this earth shall wait on his gospel." Now to you who believe
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is one of the most
precious promises in all Scripture, because it speaks of the unfailing
work, glorious work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter, when he
talked about the promises of God, put it this way in his second
epistle, 2 Peter 1.4. whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is
in the world through lust." Exceeding great and precious promises. This is one of the promises that
Peter is writing about. The righteous servant of God
who cannot fail. The person Almighty God has sent
to accomplish the salvation of God's elect is the righteous
appointed servant of God, Savior of God, that cannot fail. We read in Galatians 4, when
the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now, it is sad, but it is true. Every one of us, we're all sinners,
guilty before God. And we have all miserably failed
to honor God and to produce a righteousness that would satisfy Him. We read
this in Scripture in Romans 3. We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Paul in that same chapter makes
it very clear. There is none righteous, no,
not one. We're all gone out of the way. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. However, this being known and
this being said, yes, we are sinners, and yes, we are guilty,
and yes, we have failed to honor and satisfy God. This gives us
all the more reason to rejoice in our great Savior and surety,
the Lord Jesus Christ that cannot fail. He's able to complete,
complete, fully complete, all the promises of God concerning
This is what Abraham rejoiced in. It's recorded in Romans chapter
4. He was strong in faith, giving
God the glory, being fully persuaded that what God had promised, God
was able to perform. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
none less and no other than God manifest in the flesh. He is
able to keep us from falling and able to present us faultless
before God. We read of this promise in Hebrews
7.25. Now listen carefully. We don't
have any ability to satisfy God, to save ourselves, but thank
God He is almighty. He's able. Wherefore, He's able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing
He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Our blessed Lord came
from glory to accomplish all the purpose of God in securing
Our salvation. Now the Lord Jesus didn't come
and die to make salvation a possibility. He came and died to make salvation
an absolute certainty for His covenant people. We read this
in Philippians chapter 2, who 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. 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." Our Lord accomplished all the purpose of God. He became
obedient. As our great high priest, He
entered in once into the holy place, not with the blood of
bulls and goats, but with His own blood, and He obtained eternal
redemption for His people. Although he met with fierce opposition,
all through his ministry, you read the record in Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John, he met with fierce opposition from sinners, from
the devil, from all things. All forces of evil came against
him, but he defeated all the enemies. He had great difficulties
to overcome. He was tried and tempted and
tested in all points like as we are. yet without sin. He always
went about doing the will of God, the work of God, with perfection,
without fail. He said in John 4, verse 34,
it's recorded what the Lord said. He said, My meat is to do the
will of Him that sent Me and to finish His work. My friend,
the good news of the Gospel is that the God of Scripture, the
Lord Jesus Christ, did not fail. The success of His work is guaranteed
by the decree of Almighty God. You see, He was delivered. by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Everything that he undertook
on behalf of his covenant people he did not fail to complete to
the satisfaction of God. Now this leads us to consider
what did he undertake as a surety and mediator of his covenant
people in which he didn't fail. did not fail. Let me sum it up
this way. Everything that's recorded of him in Holy Scripture. Now
here are some of the things to think about. And I've jotted
down four of them here, four things to think about, four areas
in which the Lord Jesus Christ did not fail. Now listen to me
carefully. Pull up your chair a little bit
closer this morning, or turn up your radio just a little bit
louder if you're driving along, and listen to these promises
of God where it says, He shall not fail. And he didn't. He didn't fail, first of all,
to fulfill every type, picture, prophecy, and promise recorded
in the Old Testament Scriptures. Our Lord said to those Pharisees,
search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life, but they are they which testify of Me. All the Old Testament
scriptures point to the Lord Jesus Christ who would come to
fulfill all scriptures. You see, He died for our sins
according to the scriptures. Remember what He said? Those
two men on the road to Emmaus, He said unto them, O fools, it
is the law of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,
ought not Christ to have suffered these things and entered into
His glory and beginning at Moses? And all the prophets He expanded
unto them, and all the scriptures, the things concerning Himself. He said, These words which I
spake unto you while I was with you, that all things must be
fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophet, and in the psalm concerning me. Then he opened their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures. And he said unto
them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer,
to rise from the dead, the third day. You see, my friend, he died
according to the purpose of God to accomplish salvation. He died
for our sins according to Scripture. So he didn't fail to fulfill
every type, picture, promise recorded in Old Testament Scripture. Secondly, he didn't fail, did
not fail to honor, magnify, and exalt the holy law of God for
his covenant people. those that God gave Him in that
covenant of grace. It says in this same chapter,
Isaiah 42 verse 21, the Lord is well pleased for His righteousness
sake, He will magnify the law and make it honorable. He said
in Matthew chapter 5, think not that I have come to destroy the
law or the prophets I came not to destroy but to fulfill. The Lord Jesus Christ honored
God's law, exalted God's law perfectly. He established a perfect
righteousness for His people and freely imputes that to them.
That's what He was doing here. As the God-man mediator of working
out perfect righteousness, honoring every precept of God's law and
every penalty of God's law, and fully and freely imputes that
unto His people which is received by faith. Listen to this promise
in Romans chapter 4. Now to him that worketh is reward,
not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness, even as David also described
it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works. Did you hear that? God imputes
righteousness without any effort from us, saying, Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
fulfilled all righteousness for His covenant people, and they
received this by God-given faith. Thirdly, the Lord Jesus Christ
did not fail to make complete and eternal atonement for the
sin of his covenant people. He said in John chapter 10, I'm
the good shepherd. The good shepherd laid down his
life for the sheep. In Matthew chapter 1, we read
the promise from heaven. Call his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sin. Now, in the book of Hebrews,
it talks a lot about the priestly work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He appeared once in the end of the age to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. Did He accomplish that? The record
of Scripture said He didn't fail to make complete and eternal
atonement for sin. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation,
the atonement, that covering the sin of God's people. He laid down his life for the
sheep. Listen to this promise in Hebrews
2 verse 17. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful, faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God. His sacrifice was not offered
toward men. His sacrifice was offered toward
God, pertaining to God. Now listen, to make atonement
for the sins of these people. He didn't fail to satisfy God,
to substitute, shed His blood, satisfy God's holy justice whereby
God can be a just God and a Savior and save His people and not violate
His holy character. Here's the fourth thing. He shall
not fail. Now this is the promise of Scripture.
He shall not fail, and did not fail, and he shall not fail to
justify, redeem, sanctify, call, and glorify all his covenant
people. Now listen to this promise of
Scripture in Romans chapter 8. We read, And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are called according to the purpose of God, for whom He did
foreknow. He did also predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Now listen, Moreover whom He
did predestinate, them He also called. And whom he called them
he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified. He shall not fail to justify,
redeem, sanctify, call, and glorify all his covenant people." You
remember what he said? recorded for us here in John
chapter 6 concerning that all that the father had given me.
You remember John chapter 6 verse 37 he said all the father had
given me shall come to me and him that come to me I will in
no wise cast out. How do we come? We come because
of the irresistible call, the effectual call of God. You see
our very hope of salvation and joy of eternal life is based
upon the unfailing, perfect, eternal, complete work of Jesus
Christ who cannot fail. Jesus Christ, if you could sum
up His ministry, what word would you use to sum up His ministry?
Well, I can think of several, successful, victorious, complete,
and eternal. We read this in Isaiah chapter
53, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.