Isaiah 42.1, Behold. Behold. Now, whenever you run into that
word in Scripture, it's like a big stop sign. You stop. When
you come up to that railroad crossing, it says you better
stop. Stop, look, and listen. Behold. That's what God's saying here.
Behold. Behold My Beloved. Behold My Servant. My Redeemer. My Christ. The Christ of God.
Behold My Servant. He's the one I uphold. He's the
elect. God has chosen Him to be our
Savior, our Mediator. In whom my soul delights. This
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God said, I've
put my spirit upon Him. He shall prosper. The pleasure
of the Lord. You remember Isaiah 53.10? What
does it say? The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper. in His hand. He shall bring forth
salvation to His covenant people. He is a light of the Gentiles
for the Gentiles. He is a covenant, covenant sacrifice,
covenant mercies. I remember reading years ago
the book by John Warburton, The Mercies of a Covenant God. If
you ever get a hold of that, get a copy and read it. Be a
good assignment for you this summer. It's a great book. He
was a great preacher of the gospel. We have, I think, in preaching
the gospel, at least four goals in setting forth the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Number one, that is to honor
and glorify the Lord Jesus in preaching Him, Christ and Him
crucified. The apostle said, I'm determined
not to know anything among you. Turn to Isaiah 52. I'm determined
not to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He said, we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord. So our aim in preaching the gospel
is fourfold. First of all, to glorify and
honor the Lord Jesus Christ, to preach Him, preach Christ
and Him crucified. Isaiah 52 verse 7, how beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings. That's the gospel, good news,
salvation to sinners, that publish peace. peace, peace with God,
how? Through the blood atonement of
Christ, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publish or declare
salvation, salvation of the Lord, that saith unto Zion, God's in
charge, thy God, he reigns over all things, in creation, providence,
and salvation, God reigns over all things. So to glorify Christ
in preaching the gospel. Secondly, to point sinners unto
Him. Sinners to Him. Now turn to Isaiah
45. To point sinners to this One
whom God says is my elect, my beloved, in whom my soul delights,
and we delight in Him, to you who believe He is precious. Isaiah
45, look at verse 20. Assemble yourselves and come,
draw near together. either escaped to the nations.
They have no knowledge that set up wood of their graven image,
and pray unto a God that cannot save. Tell ye, bring them near,
yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? There is no God else beside me."
Now underscore these lines here, these words, a just God and Savior. He is a just God and Savior. There is none beside me. Now
he said, Look, look to Him. Salvation is in a person, the
Lord Jesus. Look unto me, God said in Christ,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. I am God. There
is no other Savior. There is no other Redeemer. But
Christ alone. There is no other salvation. Turn back to Isaiah 43.11. Look
at this. I, even I, am the Lord. Beside
me there is, what does that say there? Isaiah 43.11. There's
no Savior but Christ. When Peter and John were reigned
in that council of the Jews, they declared, neither is there
salvation in any other. There is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. So our goal
in preaching is this, to glorify and honor the Lord Jesus Christ,
to point sinners unto Him, looking to Him, pointing sinners to the
Lord Jesus Himself. Thirdly, to strip away any false
hope you may have. Turn to Isaiah 28. And true preaching does this. Preaching the truth exposes error. Preaching truth exposes error.
Now look what it says right here in Isaiah 28. Judgment also will
I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. Now, you construction
people know what a line is and a plummet. A line goes this way,
and when it's stretched tight, there's no variance in it. There's
no change in it. In a plumb it goes this way.
You can find a point down on the ground from the line up here
and it's straight down when the plumb bob is settled. Variance in the line and the
plum and the hail, the hail of God's wrath shall sweep away
the refuge of life. It will be exposed by the line
of God's truth, by the plummet of God's truth, and the water
shall overflow the hiding place in your covenant that you've
made. Your agreement will be disannulled. And the overflowing
scourge shall pass through and you shall be trodden down by
it. So our goal in preaching is fourfold. Number one, To honor,
to glorify the Lord Jesus. Number two, to point sinners
to Him as the only Savior of sinners. Number three, to strip
away any fault hope you may have. And number four, look back to
Isaiah 28 again, Isaiah 28, number four, is to give the believer,
give the believer great confidence and assurance in the covenant
Savior, the covenant surety, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Notice verse 16, ìTherefore thus
saith the Lord,î Isaiah 28, you got it? Verse 16, ìTherefore
thus saith the Lord, God behold, I lay in Zion.î Heís our foundation. Heís a foundation stone. Now
whenever you build something, what do you start with? You have
to start with a foundation. If you donít have a foundation,
you wonít have a building very long. You canít build on sinking
sand. Christ is that foundation that
God has laid. It must be a pretty good one.
God designed it, God purposed it, God laid this foundation.
It's a stone and it's one that's tried, tested, and tempted in
all points like as we are yet without sin. It's precious cornerstone. A cornerstone in those old buildings,
knit the building together, knit the wall together. Had to have
a good cornerstone. You men who lay block, where
do you start? You start in the corner, don't you? And work your
way out. And Christ is that cornerstone.
He's precious. And it's a sure foundation. You
can rest upon this foundation. Who says so? God says so. And
then I like this line. He that believeth on him, he
that believeth shall not make haste. That's quoted twice in
the New Testament. Shall not be confounded, shall
not be ashamed. Here, it says, He that believeth
shall not make haste. Never be forced out of this true
refuge, the city of refuge, Christ Himself. Never be forced out. We're safe in Him. We're secure
in Christ alone. Now, work on those four things. Lonnie, you can preach a message
sometime on those four things. Now, back to the text. I want
to look at verse 1 down through verse 4. Behold the Lord's service. Behold the Lord's servant. He's
called in Matthew 12, He's my beloved. God said He's beloved
of God. He was the Father's delight from
all eternity. Our Savior is God's servant.
Now you get a hold of this. Behold my servant. Our Savior
is God's servant, yet He is also God our Savior. Our Lord said,
I didn't come to be ministered unto, but I came to minister.
I came to give my life a ransom for many. And He is God's servant. Now, take your Bible here and
find Isaiah 52, verse 13. Isaiah 52, verse 13. Behold,
He says again here, My servant. Behold, My servant. Take a look
at Him. Gaze upon Him with earnest and
intent contemplation. Behold, My servant. He shall
deal wisely. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. God said, this is my servant.
I've highly exalted him. Again, in Isaiah 53, 11, look
at this. Talking about God's servant.
He's a wise servant, a prospering servant. Isaiah 53, 11, he shall
see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. By his knowledge shall
my righteous servant, he's a righteous servant, had no sin, did no sin,
knew no sin, my righteous servant shall justify many, how? He shall
bear their iniquities. He was wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. He is a servant
of God. Now find Philippians chapter
2. Philippians chapter 2, and this is an amazing, amazing sight. God's servant. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth this one. Look what it says here in
Philippians 2. Verse 5, let this mind be in
you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, because He is God. thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. Our Lord said, you've seen Me,
you've seen the Father, I and My Father are one. But made Himself
of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant. God
who inhabits eternity inhabited the body of a man. Took upon
Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And being found in
fashion or habit, as a man he humbled himself, became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him, given him a name which is above every
name, that at that name of this Saviour, this servant of God,
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, in earth, under the
earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord. to the glory of God the Father.
This is the servant who is my Savior, who is my beloved, my
delight. God says this of him. He is my
servant. He's the one I uphold. Now look
at Isaiah 42, 1. He's my elect. He's my elect. As I said earlier, this is the
first time this word elect is used in Scripture. Now whatever
election is, and I think I know what it is, but whatever election
is, it's in Christ. He is the elect. He is the chosen. He is the head of the body. He
is the mediator. He is the sacrifice of that covenant.
And my friend, we are chosen in Him, in Christ Jesus. Christ is the elect of God, the
very one chosen, chosen of God. He's chosen to be the head of
the church. Turn, take your Bible and let's
look at these scriptures. It'd be good for us. Colossians
chapter 1. Chosen of God in eternity to
be the head of the body, the head of the church. Colossians
chapter 1, look at this. Colossians 1, verse 1, "...in
whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature." The firstborn there, right in the word Lord.
He's Lord of every creature. For by Him are all things created
that are in heaven, that are in the earth, visible, invisible,
whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers. All
things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things. By Him all things consist." That
means all things are held together by His decree, His power. He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning. the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence, the glory, the
first place, the honor and all things. For please the Father,
that in him should all fullness dwell. He made peace through the blood of his cross
by him to reconcile all things unto himself. God had chosen
him as the elect of God to be the head of the body. Now what? Now get a hold of this. I read
this years ago somewhere. I don't remember where. What's
true of the head? It's true of the body. That's
right. He's the elect. He's the head
and we're chosen in Him. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily and we are complete in Him. Chosen of God to be the head
of the church. He's chosen of God to be the
foundation. Now turn to 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter. Chosen of God to be
the foundation. The foundation. We read that
a moment ago. And Isaiah 28, but look at this here. I Peter chapter 2. I Peter 2.
He says, verse 4, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed
indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. You also as living stones, lively
stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. the
offer of spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,
wherefore also it's contained in the scriptures, behold I lay
in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. He that believeth
on him shall not be confounded. He is chosen of God to be the
foundation of the church. Our Lord said upon This foundation
I'll build my church, and the gates of hell..." The gates of
hell cannot prevail against God's church. God had chosen the Lord
Jesus to be the head of the church, the foundation of the church,
the sacrifice of the church. Back to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, look at verse 8. He's a sacrifice. For whom? For whom? Well, I know what this religious
world says, that he's a sacrifice for all the sins of all men.
Not so. Not so. He's a sacrifice for
the covenant people. He's a covenant sacrifice. Look
what it says in Isaiah 53, 8. He was taken from prison from
judgment. Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off
out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people
was he stricken. Covenant people. Call His name
Jesus. He shall save His people from
their sin. He's the chosen sacrifice of
God. Not only that, He's the head
of the church, the foundation of the church, the sacrifice
for the church. He's the security of the church. He's our security. Our security. Well, how secure
are we? Well, let me see. Turn to John
10. Turn over there. John chapter 10. Now, stay with
me. I won't wear you out too long. Stay with me. John 10. Here's our security. People all
the time, you know, people will go to great lengths for their
security in this life. They have life insurance, health
insurance, car insurance, don't they? They have security alarms. They want everything to be secure
and they neglect the most important thing, the salvation of their
soul. And the security of the salvation
of our soul is Christ. Look what it says in John 10.
John 10, verse 27, My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they
follow Me. And I give unto them eternal
life, they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than
all, and no man can pluck them out of My Father's hand. Let's
see you do it. Our life is hid, Turn over here
to Colossians 3, you ever look at this here, Colossians chapter
3, our life is hid with Christ in God. Our life is hid with,
is that Colossians 3? I think it's Colossians 3. Look what it says here, Colossians
3, if then you be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above, verse 1, where Christ is at the right hand of God.
That's pretty secure, isn't it? The believers, seated in the
heavenlies in Christ, set your affection on things above, not
on the things of this earth, for you are dead, dead, dead
to the law through the body of Christ. The law has already executed
judgment on me. What claim does the law have
on me? None. I'm dead, dead to the law. And your life is hid with Christ
in God. I used to give this illustration
to my boys. to try to explain this. How is our life hid with
Christ? Well, here we are. Our life is
hid in Christ with God. Now, come up here and take that
away from me. I tell my little boys that. How secure is a believer?
Come up here and take these keys out of my hand. Those little
boys couldn't do it. That's security and safety we
have in Christ Jesus. You see what he's saying here?
Oh, that's a blessed truth, isn't it? Behold, now look back at
the text. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my elect, and
whom my soul delighteth, I put my spirit upon him, he shall
bring salvation to his covenant people. And the Lord Jesus Christ
is the salvation of the church, salvation in no other. He's the
one here that he says, the one I uphold, the one I uphold, the
one appointed of God. Look at verse 6 in our text.
I the Lord have called thee in righteousness. I will hold thy
hand." He laid help upon one that is mighty. I will keep thee
and give thee. He's a covenant. He's a covenant surety of the
people. He's a covenant sacrifice for
light. He's the light of my salvation
to the sinners. He's the one, he says in verse
1, that I uphold. He says in verse 1, the one I
delight in. Look at verse 21 in our text.
The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake. This
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. We read in Matthew 3, 17. I put
my Spirit upon Him, the Lord Jesus, as the God-man mediator,
was anointed of God above any other man that ever lived, the
anointed of God, as prophet, priest, and king. Turn to Isaiah
61. He's the anointed of God. Now,
as God, He needs no anointing. But as a God-man, He has the
Spirit without measure. I can't explain those things,
but I know it's so. But this helps us here. Isaiah
61, look at verse 1. And the Lord quotes this in Luke
chapter 4. It says, "...now these things
fulfilled in your ears." You remember that? Isaiah 61, the
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed
me to preach good tidings to the meek. He has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound. That's good news. To proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that
mourn, to appoint unto them. This is God's appointment. unto
them that morning's eye, to give them beauty, the beauty of His
righteousness, for ashes." Now, which would you rather have?
Beauty or ashes? I want His beauty. I want to
be clothed in His righteousness. The oil of joy for mourning,
which is more pleasant? Joy or mourning? Joy in the Lord,
we rejoice in Him. The garment of praise instead
of the spirit of heaviness. We have the garments of praise,
the garments of salvation He's clothed us with, that they might
be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that
He may be glorified. He's anointed in all of His offices,
prophet, priest, and king. He's anointed prophet to reveal
God to us. He's anointed priest to redeem
us, to represent us before God. And He is the anointed King.
What does a king do? He reigns. He's our Redeemer. He's our Revealer. He is our
Prophet. He is the Anointed of God. You
see what a Savior we have. God's Servant. In the fullness
of time, God sent this One made of a woman, made under the law
to redeem them that were under the law. Now look at the second
part of verse 1. He shall bring forth, He shall
bring forth salvation to sinners. That's what He's saying there.
He shall bring forth salvation to sinners. What's he saying
here? Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is always dependent,
determined, and accomplished by the Lord Himself. Salvation
is His doing. He shall bring salvation unto
His covenant people. These are sinners, it says in
verse 7, to open the blind eyes. to bring out the prisoners from
the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison
house. In verse 16, notice this, he says, I'll bring the blind
by a way they knew not. I'll lead them in paths that
they have not known. I'll make darkness light before
them and crooked things, I'm going to make them straight.
I'm going to straighten out things. These things will I do unto them,
and will not forsake them. God who hath begun a good work
in you, He will perform it, perfect it, until He comes back. This
is the one that we love to talk about. This is the one that we
love to preach. This one who cannot fail. The
success of His work. It says, He shall bring forth
salvation. Now who says so? Look what it says in verse 5.
saying, God the Lord. That's who says so. The success
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is guaranteed by the decree
of God. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass, I've purposed it, I shall do it. Can you frustrate
the purpose of God Almighty? Absolutely not. God is God. God is God. And none can stay his hand, or
say unto him, What doest thou, Almighty God? None can stay his,
none can stop his hand, or say unto him, Lord, what are you
doing? Who has been his counselor that could instruct him in the
way? Now look back to verse 2, Isaiah 42, verse 2. Isaiah 42,
2. He shall not cry. Now here's
his ministry to his people. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street of Bruges-Ride.
Shall he not break a smoking flack? Shall he not quench till
he brings salvation unto victory, unto truth?" His most unusual
ministry. His voice was heard in the streets.
He preached publicly for three years. He preached publicly,
but not to gain the applause of men, but rather to declare
the good news of God, salvation in Christ. But to declare salvation
in him, he went about his father's business in meekness and lowliness
and loyalty to his father. Even at a young age, he said
to his mother and his stepfather, don't you know that I must be
about my father's business? One time he was out with his
apostles, disciples, and they went to find something to eat,
and he, being weary with the travel and with the journey,
sat down, and when the disciples came back, he seemed to be somewhat
refreshed, and they said, ìWell, Master, where did you get this
meat? How come youíre refreshed?î And he said, ìMy meat is to do
the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work!î And
he canít fail. He canít fail. The Lord Jesus
Christ is successful in all that He does. He must be about His
Father's business. Now look at verse 3. A bruised
reed, a bruised reed shall He not break, and a smoking flax,
flax shall He not quench till He brings salvation to these
people. Here's His tenderness, His tenderness,
His gentleness to His covenant people. Our Lord came to save
broken reeds. Broken reeds. You know broken
reeds, just naturally speaking, a broken reed wouldn't be good
for anything, would it? You just discard it and cast
it away. A broken reed, you couldn't use
it for a walking stick, you couldn't lean upon it, you couldn't use
it to prop up anything, you just cast it away. But the Lord Jesus
Christ came to save broken reeds. This is a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save
sinners. I want you to turn over here
to Psalm 34 and look at this. Psalm 34. You know, there's not
much in this life that we normally would say if something broken
is useful. A broken watch, you can't tell
time. A broken car, you cannot drive.
A broken stove, you cannot cook upon. A broken refrigerator,
you don't have trouble there. But you know what? Something
that's broken that's very useful, a broken heart. Look what he
says here. In Psalm 34, verse 18, the Lord
is nigh unto them of a broken heart. Oh Lord, give me a broken
heart. Give me a broken heart. And deliver
them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them of
a broken heart. And save us such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He's nigh
unto them of a broken heart. Now, I'll give you another Illustration
of this, turn to Matthew 9. When the Lord Jesus Christ went
home with a publican named Matthew. Remember? Verse 9 of Matthew 9, Jesus passed
forth from thence and saw a man named Matthew. Now this is before
the Lord called him. Sitting at the receipt of customs,
he was a publican, he was a tax collector. He took taxes from
his own people and gave it to the Romans. He was despised.
Yet the Lord called him. Sitting at the receipt of custom,
He said to him, Matthew, you follow me. And he arose. Here's
the irresistible call of God, the effectual call of God. He
arose and followed him. And it came to pass that Jesus
said at meeting in his house, behold, many publicans and sinners.
He said, boys, come on over to my house. I've got some good
news. Many public of the sinners came and sat down with him and
his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said to the disciples, why does your master eat with public
of the sinners? Surely he's not the Savior. No,
he came to save broken sinners. He came to save the wretched.
But when Jesus heard that, he said to them, they that behold
don't need a physician. but they who are sick. Go ye
and learn what that means. I will have mercy, not sacrifice.
I didn't come to call the righteous. I came to call sinners. Sinners. Sinners to repentance. Now look back at the text again.
A bruised reed shall he not break. A smoking flax shall he not quench.
Now what is this bruised reed? We understand something about
that. But what's this smoking flax? Well, it would be like
a lamp oil. Some of you oil a lamp, an oil
lamp that has a wick in it. Some of you have trimmed that
lamp. And you know a little bit what
he's talking about here. But he says this, this flickering,
dimly lit lamp that he will not snuff it out, but he will cause
it to burn brighter and glow more. And he won't quench it. Our Lord came to enlighten us
pouring in the oil, not snuffing us out, but pouring in the oil
of His grace, causing His truth to shine in us, He commands the
light to shine out of darkness. He shines in our heart to give
us a light of a knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. You see, He doesn't snuff us
out. Now, by nature, we have no light, but He gives us life,
and then He causes us to grow in grace and in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His tenderness. Our Lord shall
justify His people upon the foundation of His law being honored. It
says there, He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He saves
us in such a way that He maintains the honor of His integrity and
character. He is a just God and a Savior. He's just and the justifier. Now look at verse 4. And here
we'll camp just a minute on verse 4. He shall not fail. Now if you
had one word to describe the ministry, the earthly ministry
of the God-man mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, what one word
would you use to describe His mission of mercy? Would you say
mission aborted? Would you say mission impossible?
What word would you use? I would use this word, mission
successful. He is the successful Savior,
the servant of God. You see, He cannot fail. He shall
not fail, nor be defeated, nor broken, till He has accomplished
all God's purpose in the earth. Judgment, judgment, judgment.
It says it three times there. Salvation of God's people. Guaranteed. by the work of the
Lord Jesus. In all His redemptive, mediatorial
work that He performed for us, and He performed all things,
we can boldly declare the Lord Jesus Christ did not fail. We
can sum up His ministry by this word, mission accomplished. Failure is not an option. You get a hold of what I'm saying
here? Failure is not an option. He prayed to John 17, ìFather,
Iíve glorified Thee on earth. Iíve finished the work You gave
me to do.î He said on Calvaryís tree, his dying word, ìFather!î
It is finished. And he gave up the ghost. Went
back to glory. His ministry successful. Although
he faced much opposition. Turn over here to Isaiah 50.
Isaiah, he faced much opposition even among his own disciples.
When the Lord said, I'm going to go to Jerusalem, I'm going
to be betrayed, I'm going to be beaten, I'm going to die,
I'm going to raise again, and Peter said, oh, no, no, no, no,
don't go down there. Remember what the Lord said to
him? You get out of my way, Satan. You don't savor the things that
are of God. Salvation is of the Lord. The
cross is no afterthought. He came here with that purpose
to die for His covenant people. Look what it says in Isaiah 50
verse 7. Isaiah 57, for the Lord God will help me, therefore shall
I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint. No one could turn him from going
to Jerusalem and dying for his people. I set my face like a
flint. I know that I shall not be confounded. Ashamed? He is near that justifies
me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him
come near. when they came to arrest him
in the garden. Remember what happened there? Peter took out
his sword and tried to defend him. He said, ìYou put up your
sword, I can call twelve legions of angels, do the math on that,
eighty thousand angels that wipe out these men.î When they came
and asked him, ìWhom do you search for? Who are you looking for?î
They said, ìJesus.î He said, ìI am.î And they fell out on
their back. You see, Heís the Almighty God,
my friend. No one could He said, no man
takes my life from me. I have power. Pilate said, don't
you know I have power to crucify you or to let you go? And the
Lord corrected him and said, you don't have any power over
me. But that which is given to you of my Father. No man takes
my life from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it in. This commandment have I received
from my Father. He came here facing opposition. facing the work that he knew
that would be accomplished in his death, and yet he did not
flinch. He set his face like a flint. That's a very hard stone, isn't
it? A flint. You can't hardly move
it or shape it or bend it. You can chip away maybe at it,
but you couldn't chip away at Him. He was determined to go
to the cross. He being delivered by the determinate
counsel and full knowledge of God, you have taken and with
wicked hands you crucified the Lord of glory, but you did only
what God determined before to be done. His success, and I say
it again, His success at the cross is guaranteed by the decree
of God, and I'll say it again, failure was not an option. He
accomplished all God's purpose in salvation. Jesus Christ, the
Lord Jesus, did not fail to... Four things. One, two, three,
four. Four things. Some of you got my bulletin this
week, and if you read that bulletin, I guess I can find out who did.
Because this outline, these four points is in that bulletin. I'll
give it to you briefly. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
fail to, number one, fulfill all Scripture. To fulfill all
Scripture. He died for our sins according
to the Scripture. God planned the cross. This is
His Lamb. God not only planned the cross,
He presided over the cross. And he participated in afflicting
God's dear son. It's not what men did that day
at Calvary as our hope, it's what God did at the cross. It
pleased God to prove it in our room and in our stead. And all
this was done to fulfill the Scripture. He died for our sins
according to the Scripture. Secondly, the Lord Jesus Christ
did not fail not only to fulfill all Scripture, Fulfill every
type, pattern, picture and promise. But the Lord Jesus Christ came
to magnify and honor and satisfy that holy law of God that we
could not. It says this in our text. Verse
21, the Lord is well pleased, well pleased for His righteousness
sake. He will magnify the law. Our
Lord said in Matthew 5.17, I didn't come to destroy it. I came to
honor it. He came to do for me what I couldn't.
He honored every precept of that law. There's more than just ten. That law has seven or eight hundred
precepts, some of the old commentators say. He magnified every precept
of that law, and He honored not only every precept, but the penalty
of the law. The penalty of that law says
the guilty must die. He died in our room, in our stead. So He magnified the law. He made
it honorable for us. That's our righteousness before
God. Do you understand that? If righteousness
comes by the law, by my doing, then Christ is dead in vain.
But He honored the law in His life and in His death, and then
He freely gives me the merit of that, freely imputes that
to me. And I receive Him by faith, by
grace. Thirdly, to make complete atonement
for sin, the Lord Jesus Christ did not fail to make complete
atonement for sin. Complete atonement for sin. The
blood atonement of Jesus Christ is not weak and anemic. It's
prevailing. It's powerful. So much so that
God said their sin and their iniquity, I remember no more."
The believer resting in Christ has no sin. It's been separated
from the believer as far as the east is from the west. It's been
cast behind the back of God. God said their sin, their iniquity,
I remember no more. I call that complete successful
atonement, don't you? Thank God. Fourthly, he shall
not fail to justify, call, glorifying all the elect of God. All grace
now and all glory hereafter. Whom He did predestinate, them
He also called. Whom He called, He justified.
Whom He justified, He glorified. Now, what shall we say to these
things? I know what the rebel and the reprobate said, well,
that's not fair. But those chosen of God say,
thank God for His grace. Thank God for His truth. Who
says so? Verse 5, Thus saith the Lord
God. That's who says so. He shall
not fail. He shall not be discouraged.
Well, I pray the Lord to bless that message. And I trust that
I've done those four things in this message. To honor and glorify
the Lord Jesus. To point sinners to Christ. To
strip us of any false hope. And fourthly, to give us assurance
and comfort in Christ and Him alone.