Behold, My Servant

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus as God's servant?

The Bible designates Jesus as God's servant, highlighting His obedience, humility, and righteousness as fulfilling God's requirements. In Isaiah 42:1-8, Jesus is referred to as God's servant whom the Father delights in. This prophetic designation underscores His role as the Messiah who came to fulfill the will of God. As God's servant, Jesus did not cry out or defend Himself; He modeled perfect obedience to the Father's will, exemplifying meekness and humility, particularly during His atoning sacrifice. The passage illustrates that He would not only bring forth justice for Israel but also be a light to the Gentiles, emphasizing His universal mission. This servant identity reveals the depth of God's plan for redemption through the perfect life and sacrificial death of Christ.

Q: How do we know Jesus fulfilled the law?

Jesus fulfilled the law by magnifying it through His perfect obedience and satisfying its demands on our behalf. Jesus not only fulfilled the law in His life but did so in a way that magnified its glory. As stated in Isaiah 42:21, He was 'well pleased' by the Father for His righteousness' sake, having kept the law perfectly. He brought a new luster to God's law through His exposition of its true meaning—teaching that it involved not just actions but the intents of the heart. His sinless birth, life of obedience, and sacrificial death provided the perfect satisfaction for the law's demands, which require both holiness of nature and the penalty of death for violations. Thus, through Christ's work, the law is not merely fulfilled but exalted in its significance.

Q: Why is Jesus' righteousness important for Christians?

Jesus' righteousness is crucial for Christians as it is imputed to them through faith, securing their standing before God. The righteousness of Christ is central to the Christian faith, as it is through His perfect obedience that believers are declared righteous before God. Paul explains in Romans that through the obedience of one man, many are made righteous, affirming that believers are credited with Christ's righteousness, not their own. This imputation of righteousness secures our justification and reconciles us with God, eliminating the condemnation that results from sin. Moreover, recognizing this truth fosters a life of gratitude and obedience in response to His grace, underscoring the importance of Christ's righteousness as foundational for salvation and assurance.

Q: What does it mean that God is pleased with Jesus?

God's pleasure in Jesus indicates His approval of Christ's righteous life and His redemptive work for humanity. In Isaiah 42:21, it is stated that God is well pleased with His servant Jesus for His righteousness' sake. This declaration reflects God's approval of Jesus’ perfect obedience and His fulfillment of the law, which no other human could achieve. Jesus embodies the ideal human response to God’s law—loving, obeying, and magnifying it throughout His life. This divine pleasure not only highlights the unique relationship between the Father and the Son but also assures believers that through their union with Christ, they share in this approval. The significance of God’s pleasure speaks to the successful accomplishment of redemption through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

You know, the book, the prophet
Isaiah, is quoted more in the New Testament than any other
Old Testament prophet. When the angel announced the
birth of the Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, he quoted Isaiah,
that the prophecy might be fulfilled in Isaiah, which is spoken, Behold,
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. a virgin shall be with
child, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel, God with us."
When the Ethiopian eunuch was reading the scriptures, and God
sent Philip to minister to him, what was he reading? Isaiah. And this chapter before us here,
as Tom has already ably pointed out, is a prophecy concerning
the Messiah. And beginning in verse 1, he
is called God's servant. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
servant whom the Father supports, whom he has sent, whom he upholds,
and in whom he delights. He said, Lo, I come to do thy
will. The words that I speak, Christ
said, as the servant. as the Redeemer, he said, are
not my words, they're the words of him that sent me. And wist
ye not that I be about my Father's business, since I'm his servant,
in whom my soul delighteth? And he said, I put my spirit
upon him, he has the Holy Spirit without measure. The Holy Spirit
without measure. And he'll bring forth judgment,
salvation, not only to Israel, but to the Gentiles. And verse
2 reveals his meekness, his humility. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets. He doesn't speak
in his defense. I lay down my life. He's led
as a sheep to the slaughter, dumb before his service. He doesn't
defend himself. He's submissive to the Father's
will. And verse 3, he's known for his tenderness and love for
weak and sinful people. He's the friend of sinners. That's
what verse 3 is talking about. He's the friend of sinners. You
know, the worst thing that they thought they could say about
Christ, the Pharisees would look down their noses and they'd say,
this man's gone to be the guest of a man that's a sinner. Why
does your master eat with publicans and sinners? If he were a prophet,
he would know what kind of woman this is that's touching him.
He wouldn't let her touch him. Listen, a bruised reed, a weak
person, shall he not break? The smoking flax, shall he not
quench? He shall bring forth judgment
unto the truth. He's the friend of sinners. He's
known for his tenderness and kindness and love for the weak. And like Tom said, verse 4, he'll
not fail. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. Everything that my Father gave
him to accomplish, he will accomplish. He'll not fail, he'll not be
discouraged until he's set judgment on this earth. And the hours
shall wait for his law, his gospel, his word. And then verse 5 through
7, he came to accomplish the will of the Father, the purpose
of the Father. Look at this, verse 5. Thus saith
the Lord, God the Lord, he that created the heavens, he that
stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth, and that which
cometh out of it, he that giveth breath to the people. God's identifying
himself here now. Spirit to them that walk therein,
I'm the Lord. And I've called thee, I've called
him, the Messiah, in righteousness, and I'll hold his hand, and I'll
keep him, and I'll give him for a covenant of the people, for
a light to the Gentiles. He came to accomplish the purpose
of his father. His father sent him, and it says
here he'll open the blind eyes. You remember Isaiah 61? You just stay where you are.
Let me just show you something here. Isaiah 61, the Messianic
prophecy, when he came down to Nazareth and he spoke that Sabbath
morning, he read this and he said, The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captive, the opening of prison to the blind, to the
bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And that's
what it says in verse 7. To open the blind eyes, Isaiah
42, 7, to bring out the prisoners from the prison. That says, in
bondage to the law, under the curse of the law. And them that
sit in darkness out of the prison house. And then verse 8 through
10, the glory is his. that glory is his. Look at verse
8, I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not
give to another, neither my praise to graven images. You know, in
1 Corinthians he said this, he hath chosen the foolish and the
weak and the things that are not, that no flesh should glory
in his presence. He that glorieth let him glory
in the Lord, and God will not share his glory, particularly
the glory of his redemption, salvations of the Lord, from
Alpha to Omega, from beginning to end. Verse 9, Behold the former
things that come to pass, all fulfilled in Christ. All the
promises, all the prophecies, all the patterns, all the types,
all that's written in the Old Testament, all these things are
fulfilled, they come to pass. And new things do I declare.
He taketh away the first and establishes the second. And before
they spring forth, I tell you of them. Isaiah knows something
about that. Way back yonder, hundreds of
years before Calvary, Isaiah wrote, he was wounded for our
transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him. By his stripes
we are healed. I tell you, he said of these
things before they come to pass. Our God declares the end from
the beginning. This is one of the things that
I note in present day preaching. They seem to preach God as one
who makes arrangements after a situation has arisen. You see what I'm saying? They
preach that God, it's like that song, there's a song that I like
put it well, but just change a few words. Come to the word,
they said, they searched through heaven to find a Savior. And
that's what, see, it seemed like man fell, and then God rushed
to the rescue. And then all these things happen,
and God, after the situation where it arises, God presents
a remedy. The remedy was there before the
problem. He declares the end from the
beginning. Can you understand what I'm saying?
Known unto God all his works from the beginning, that's what
he sang before they sprang forth, I tell you of them. So sing unto
the Lord a new song. Let's learn to magnify his name. Sing unto the Lord a new song,
verse 10. Here's praise from the end of
there. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Thank God.
Praise God. We'll go down to verse 18. Let's
move. I want to get to my text. Hear ye deaf, look ye blind,
that ye may see. Verse 21. Here's where I want
to come to. Verse 21. Here's the relationship between
this servant Behold, where it starts, my servant. We're going
to consider my servant. Behold, this man. Behold, my
Messiah. Behold, my servant. Behold, my
elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I want you to behold him. It
says here in verse 21, the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness'
sake. He, my servant, will magnify
the law and will make Two things here, it and him. Honorable. Now, who? Verse 21. Let's just
look at verse 21. Who? It says the Lord. All the
way through this passage, God has been identifying himself.
I created the heavens. I stretched them out. I, the
Lord, do all these things. I'm the Lord. That's my name.
That's my name. I'll not share my glory or give
my glory to another. The Lord here is The Lord God
Almighty, the righteous, holy judge of heaven and earth. And
I might add, the Lord here is the one who's angry with the
wicked. The Lord here is the one who cannot look upon sin.
The Lord here is the offended God of the universe. The Lord
here is the lawgiver. The Lord here is the one before
whom all mankind stands condemned. This is the holy God of heaven
and earth, the Lord. All right? What does it say about
him? Well, it says here in verse 21 that this Lord, this God,
is well pleased. He's well pleased. There is someone. There is a servant. There is
an elect. with whom he's well pleased.
There is a man. There is a man. He's speaking
here about a man. The Lord is well pleased. Now, I know that all mankind,
every creature, is under judgment. Even the creation is subject
to vanity. And all mankind is under wrath
and condemnation. Yet, here is a surprising declaration. Here is a surprising announcement. The Lord God of heaven and earth
declares that there's someone with whom I'm well pleased. My
anger is turned away. I'm satisfied. There's a man
born of a woman, made under the law, in flesh and bones and blood,
of whom God says I'm well pleased. I'm delighted. in whom my soul
delighted." Well, why is God well pleased? Well, read on.
The Lord, God of heaven and earth, is well pleased. You know, Barnard
used to say somebody was well saved. Barnard got kind of tired
of all this easy believism and religious professions, and when
he met someone that impressed him, with their love for Christ,
it's, I believe, that brother's well saved. And our God says
here, Behold my serpent, mine elect, with whom I am well pleased,
really pleased. Why? For his righteousness' sake. for his righteousness sake, for
he magnified my law." Magnified it. Now hang on a minute. I've
got something here. Here is the cause and ground
of this surprising declaration. There's a man with whom God's
well pleased. And the cause is, the cause and
ground is that this man, this man, The spotlight of God's holiness
is on this man, born of a woman, made of a woman, made under the
law. And the spotlight of God's holiness is not confined to the
outward flesh, it goes down to this man's thoughts, his imaginations,
his motives, his intents, his desires. And as this spotlight
of God's holiness searches out this man, this servant, This
man born a woman, God looks at him and says, I'm pleased. He magnified. He magnified my
law. Now wait a minute, he not only
fulfilled it, he magnified it. He said, the Lord is well pleased
for his holiness, his righteousness sake, for he kept the law. More
than that. He fulfilled the law, more than
that. He obeyed the law, more than
that. He magnified it. Jesus Christ
gave God's holy law new luster and new glory. Did you know that? He gave the law a glory it never
had before. That's right, a luster that it
never had before. He glorified God in that he magnified
God's law. Never, one man wrote, never was
such glory and honor given to the law as when the God-man was
born under it, and the God-man glorified it. For through Jesus
Christ, God not only magnifies his holiness, justice, and truth,
but his love, grace, and mercy. And at the same time, continues
to be God. Boy, he magnified He literally magnified it. And he made that law honorable. And he brought a glory to it
it never had before. And because he magnified that
law, God said, I exalted him above all exaltation and gave
him a name above every name. He prayed this way, I have glorified
you on the earth. Christ is the only one who could
ever say that. I not only obeyed you, I not only submitted to
you, but I literally glorified you. A man, Christ Jesus. Boy, oh boy. You know, that's
what, if you want to return to Psalm 24, that's what Psalm 24
is all about. It's from that idea right there,
Jesus Christ, the man, Jesus Christ. born of a woman, made
under the law, so handled this law of God, so magnified it,
glorified it, gave it a lustre and a glory it never had before. That's what Psalm 24 is about. Let's look at it. The earth is
the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell
therein. For he hath founded upon the seas, and established
it upon the floods, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place? Who, who, who? I'll tell you
who, he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart, who hath never
lifted up his soul to vanity, who has never sworn deceitfully,
that's Christ, he shall receive the blessings from the Lord.
He shall receive righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy
face, O Jacob. So lift up your heads, O ye gates,
that have been bowed down too long. Be ye lifted up, everlasting
doors, the King of glory, the King of glory is coming in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. So lift up
your heads, O ye gates, Even lift them up, you everlasting
doors. You never thought that a man would ever walk through
these gates and through these doors. Well, you lift them up.
There's a man coming in. King of glory shall come in.
Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts. And he won't
be by himself either. He's bringing a people with him,
whom he represented, a people of whom he was the head, a people
for whom he did what he did, magnifying God's love. He's coming
in, in glory and triumph, victoriously, and bringing them with him, the
Lord of hosts, which no man could number. Just a question or two. What
is this law that he magnifies? Said the Lord is well, well,
not just pleased. He's well pleased. This is my
beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. For His righteousness
sake, He magnified, He glorified my law. What law? Well, I read
some folks on this and some say the Ten Commandments, the moral
law. All right, that's all right,
but I say it's more than these Ten Commandments. I say it's
more. I say this law that He magnified, to me, This law that
he's talking about here is the very nature and character of
God. Established, true, existent before the Ten Commandments
were ever given. The law of God. The law of God
is all that God is. I hear somebody say one of the
Ten Commandments is a summary of the character of God. No,
they're not. No, sir. I can't find much mercy
in the Ten Commandments. I can't find much grace in the
Ten Commandments. I can't find much love in the
Ten Commandments. I can't find much of those things. I just don't believe the Ten
Commandments are a summary of the character of God Almighty. This law, to
me, is his deity and his sovereignty. This law which Christ magnified
is his righteousness and his justice. This law is his truth
and his holiness. This law is his mercy and his
love. This law is the very foundation
and establishment of his whole kingdom. This law is the name
and honor of God. That's what Christ magnified.
It's not just do this and don't do this that he magnified. He
magnified the character, the name, the honor, the glory, the
power, the very existence, the essential holiness of his Father. That's what Adam despised. This law of which I'm speaking,
not just You do this and don't do that. It's not just that. But this law of which I'm speaking
was given in the form of a covenant to that first man, Adam, our
parents, Adam and Eve. This law, walk before God. Walk
before God in submission, in obedience, in love, and live. hear his word, obey his word,
do his will, keep his word, and live. Violate it and die. And in this covenant, Adam stood
as a public head and as a representative of all men. But Adam, through
the flattering hisses of the serpent in the Garden of Eden,
did break and dishonor and walk under his feet God Almighty's
authority. God Almighty's law. He denounced
God as sovereign. He denied the authority of God. It's more than just doing what
he was told not to do. He did what he was told not to
do because in his heart he despised the authority of God. That's right. In his heart he
cast God's name under his feet in the dust and trampled on it. That's what Adam did. By one man, sin entered this
world, sin. Sin there is all that God's not. That covenant was all that God
is. And that's the reason to offend
in one point to be guilty of all of it. Because it doesn't
matter what part of God's authority and sovereignty and deity and
glory you despise, if you despise, he's got to be God of all and
not God of all. It doesn't matter what point
you disagree on. Defending one point is to be
guilty of the whole thing. It doesn't matter what Adam did,
it was why he did it. And that's our whole problem.
That's the reason folks say, well, you think it's worse to
steal or to commit adultery? You think it's worse to take
God's name in vain or to kill somebody? It's not a matter of
what's worse and what's not worse and what's little and what's
big. To cast the name of God under your feet is to cast the
name of God under your feet, no matter how you do it. Understand
what I'm saying? That's what Adam knew. It's not
just a rule that he violated, it was a name that he violated. It was a name. The law violated that Almighty
God rejected. Man is now God's enemy. He's
declared himself the enemy of God. Man declared war on God,
and he got war as a result. And God will by no means clear
the guilty. By no means. But here comes,
and that's the way this chapter starts, Behold, here is Adam's
race under the judgment, wrath, and condemnation of your sins
that separated you and your God. God's who he is and what he is,
and he will not change. And we're in the dust, rebels,
enemies. The natural mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God. But God says, wait a minute,
behold, my servant. There's another Adam. Mine elect,
whom I chose, in whom my soul delights. The second Adam, the
Lord from heaven, the God-man. the public herald and representative
of a new race, of a new people, called the elect. The representative of a people
out of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue, and heaven. Behold
him! For my righteousness' sake, he
magnified my law. He was made under it, and he
received it as Adam rejected it. He embraced it as Adam threw
it off. He obeyed it, he loved it, he
fulfilled it, and he glorified it, and he magnified it. My servant
did. You see, there are three things
that the law insists upon from every man. Three things. One is holiness or perfection
of nature. Nature. And this Christ is. I don't say had, he is. He had
holiness of nature for he was conceived by the Holy Ghost.
The emphasis born of a virgin is not to laud the chastity or
purity of Mary. The fact he's born of a virgin
is because he did not partake of Adam's sin. He had no human
father. It's not Mary we're lauding there,
it's Christ. You understand what I'm saying?
The Catholics have butchered that to no end. That's not Mary
we're lauding. God could have picked out any
16-year-old girl in the tribe of Judah and brought forth his
son. But it's Christ we're lauding
there. So he was born with a perfect nature, without sin, without
sin. In him, human nature is restored
to perfection, absolute holiness of nature. Secondly, God's law
insists not only upon holiness of nature, but righteousness
of life. The law demands holiness of nature
and perfection of life. And that's what Christ did. The
scripture says, he that doeth these things shall live by them.
Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things written in
the book of the law to do them. And this Christ did. Made of
a woman, made under the law. And he produced a perfection
of actions and thoughts and words and deeds, a perfection of life. Then thirdly, the law demands,
now listen to this, this is so important, the law demands satisfaction
by death for the offender. Oh, God said the soul that sinneth,
it must die. Sin, when it's finished, bringeth
forth death. There's no way that God can clear
the guilty. That's just right. Well, Christ
satisfied the law which demanded death. Now suppose that when
Adam fell, suppose, just suppose, that God had destroyed him and
destroyed his posterity forever, like he did the angels that fell.
The justice of God would have been honored, wouldn't it? The
justice of God would have been honored in our ruin. I tell you,
Like David said, I'm guilty and therefore you're just when you
condemn me and you're clear when you charge me and damn me. So
if God had damned Adam and the whole human race to destruction
as a result of their sin, his justice would have been honored.
But wait a minute. It could never have been said
that his law was magnified. It could never have been said
that his law, his justice would be honored in your condemnation.
But his law would have been left unhonored, unglorified, and unmagnified. It would have been left over
there having failed. But behold my servant, this is
good news, behold my servant, holy in his nature, perfect in
his obedience. and satisfying in his death,
magnified my love, and exalted my holiness, and glorified my
name." You see, somebody said one time, God could have saved
everybody. And I said, well, that's all
right. If he could save me, he could save anybody else, I'm
sure of that. But, he added, God could have damned everybody. And I told him, I said, well,
I have trouble with that now. I have trouble with that. God
could have damned everybody and magnified his justice, but what
about his mercy? What about his love? God is love. What about his grace? God delights
to show mercy. Oh, no. He wouldn't have been
glorified, would he, Tom? Not if he damned everybody. But
I tell you, in his love and mercy, he sent his son down here, the
man Christ Jesus, the second Adam. And he said, Behold, take
a look, take a good look, take a long look at my servant, in
whom my soul delights, mine elect. With him I am well pleased, because
for his righteousness' sake, He magnified my law. He glorified
my law. Now, and in doing that, you see,
by one man's disobedience, we were made sinners. By the obedience,
by one man's disobedience, we were made sinners. By the obedience
of that servant, we were made righteous. As righteous as he
is. As righteous as he is. and the
righteousness of God through Christ is fulfilled in us. That's
the good news. That's the good news. Well, let
me ask you five questions. Here under this heading, here's
my heading, how do I know, Henry Mahan, how do I know if this
righteousness of the law is actually fulfilled in me by Christ, through
Christ, because of Christ, by faith? How do I know it's fulfilled
in me? How do I know I have an interest in it? Five questions. Number one, has the law of God,
and I'm talking about, please remember, I'm talking about the
whole issue here of who God is, the law of God, the name of God,
the character of God, the glory of God. Has the presence and
the essential holiness of God Has it stripped you of your own
righteousness? Can you literally say in the
face of this serpent who magnified my law, can you say, yes, my
righteousness is gone? I have none. In fact, mine are
filthy rags. You know, Saul of Tarsus was
such a religious, self-righteous man, boasting of his obedience,
boasting of his righteousness. And he said, when God's law came,
I died. Now, have you died? Paul saw with all his religious
works and all of his self-righteousness, he said, before God's law, I'm
nothing but a dead man. Can you say that? Now, be honest. What do you have to offer God?
What do I have to offer God in the form of righteousness? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, that
encourages me, because this righteousness is unto all and upon all them
that believe in his righteousness. Now, a second question. When
your conscience smites you, and that's pretty regularly, isn't
it? And when the guilt of sin, of what you are and what you've
done and what you said and what we haven't done, when the guilt
of sin is literally staring you in the face. I'm not what I ought
to be. I'm not what I should be. I'm
not what I want to be. When you're laden with, where
do you go for relief? Where do you go for comfort?
Where do you go when your conscience smites you and the guilt of sin
is staring you in the face? Where do you go for comfort?
Do you go to your experience? Do you go to your profession?
Do you go to your doctrine? Do you go to your preacher? Do
you go to your duties and deeds? Or do you go to Christ? That'll tell you a whole lot.
That'll tell you a whole lot. That'll tell you a whole lot.
When a man's thirsty, he goes to the water. When a man's hungry,
he goes to the food. And when a man's a sinner, he'll
go to where that sin is taken care of. Thirdly, when you consider
death, and some of us are looking hard at it now, when you consider
death, when you consider judgment, when you consider your appointment,
your personal appointment before God Almighty's throne, we shall
all stand before the judgment seat of God. What plea will you
make? On what grounds do you hope to
stand there? Now come on, when you think of
death, and when you think of eternity and judgment, on what
grounds are you going to present your plea to God Almighty? On
what grounds? I'm going to say, behold your
servant, your elect, in whom you're so
delighted. There's my righteousness. Jesus
Christ. Please God, don't even look at
me, don't even think of my name, don't, please don't look at my
record. Look at His. I like what that
old black preacher said when they asked him, he said, ìWhat
right you got to go to heaven?î He said, ìNo right at all. I
donít intend to go there on my right. I intend to go there on
his righteousness. My hope is built, we sang it,
on nothing less than Jesusí blood and his righteousness.î Fourthly,
and this is something David Clarkson asked in his sermon on this subject,
he said, ìIs there a real conflict between your nature and God's
Spirit. Paul talks about in Romans 7,
he said, I've got a conflict going on within me. What I would
do, I don't do. What I wouldn't do, I do. He
said, when I would do good, evil is present with me. I delight
in the law of God after the inward man, but I find another law warring
in my members, bringing me into captivity, more wretched man
than I am. You got that problem? If you
have, it's a good sign. You say it's a good sign? That's
a good sign. That's right. What's it a good
sign of? It's a good sign that the Spirit
of God is in you. It's a good sign. Thank God for
it. If you didn't have that warfare,
you got trouble. Finally, the fifth question.
On a daily basis, when you're growing older, when you're learning
more. And this is what I've been preaching
a long time. The more I go to this well, the
more I get. I'm learning more of God's majesty
and holiness than I ever knew before. God's more holy to me
today than He's ever been. More majestic, righteous. I'm getting a better view of
God's law than I ever got before. And I'm coming up with a with
more understanding of my own depravity. Are you? The older
I get, you say, aren't you? Most old people I talk to, they
feel like they're getting better. This old man's not. See, so you'll
be 70 Monday week. You getting any better? I'm telling the truth. I see
more of God's holiness and I see absolutely less. The more I'm
exposed to His holiness, the more I'm exposed to my shortcomings, aren't you? Boy, a lot of folks jump on me
for that. We're growing in grace, and love, and joy, and the fruit
of the Spirit, these things. But I tell you, this old flesh
is not improving. I don't expect it to. If it could
get better, God wouldn't have to destroy it. He'd just wait
a few thousand years and take it on to glory. God's only going
to destroy what's bad. And then when you see the innumerable
evils in you and about you, when you struggle, when that struggle
keeps increasing, and when you see and hear others boasting
of their works that you don't have, I don't have. I hear them
talking about how good they are, how righteous they are, and how
happy they are, and how victorious they are. When your body grows weary, and
your mind weakens, and troubles and sorrows increase, and sadness
increases, now what's your confidence? Now
what's your hope? I tell you this, mind never changes
Christ Jesus and His righteousness. Behold my servant. Behold my
servant. Some of you have heard this story.
Some of you haven't. I'm going to tell it again. I'm
going to tell it again. Tell you about the time I got
arrested. If you've never been arrested, it's an unusual experience. But back several years ago, it's
been 13 years ago, No, it's been 23 years ago. My
son Danny was 16 years old and Robbie was 19 and I got them
a car and I put it in my name. Had to because they couldn't
own a car. Insurance and everything was in my name. License in my
name. And one day I was sitting over here to study, one Friday
or Saturday, I forget the day, I was over here to study. preparing
a message for Sunday, and I got a telephone call, and I picked
it up, and the man said, Are you Reverend May? And I said,
Yes. He said, If you're not in Cattlesburg, by 5 o'clock I'm
going to swear to warrant your arrest. I said, What for? He
said, Well, he said, I was driving down the street in Cattlesburg,
and he said, Your car passed me, and somebody threw a handful
of BBs out the window and broke my windshield. I said, well,
I've been sitting here in my study all day. If it wasn't me,
you might be mistaken. He said, no, I got your license
number. Well, my son Danny and three of his friends had gone
fishing, and on the way back, one of the boys in the back seat,
I'm not going to call his name, but in the back seat, just threw
a handful of buckshot out the window, and when the car came,
I busted his windshield, and the man turned around and got
the license number. Well, I hunted the boys up, and
I found them, and I said, now, boys, I said, Y'all gonna have
me in jail if you don't go to Cattlesburg and meet this man.
So they went to Cattlesburg right away. But they went to the courthouse,
not the city building. And the man was at the city building.
And his boys were at the courthouse. And they never did find him.
They came back home and said, Dad couldn't find him. I said,
well, we'll just have to see about it later. We had some friends
over that night, and it was about 10 o'clock, 10.30 at night. Knocked
at the front door, and I went to the door, and there stood
two policemen with flashlights. Patrol car out in front of the
Parsonage with the lights flashing. That's good advertisement, you
know. And he said, you Reverend Mahan? I said, yes, sir. He said,
I've got a warrant here for your arrest. I said, well, come in. So he came in with his flashlight,
you know, on. And I tried to explain it to
him. He said, there's no use us talking about it. He said,
I got a warrant here for your arrest. I said, you're under
arrest. I said, well, I'll get in my
car and meet you down at the police station. He said, you
don't understand. You're under arrest. You go with us. So I went out and I got in the
police car in the back seat. If you never have ridden in one,
there's no doors on the inside of the police car. Shotgun across
there, Charlie. Two officers in the front. And
they said, we're taking you down to the city building in Ashland,
and the police from Cattlesburg will pick you up there and transfer
you to Cattlesburg. This is 1030 at night. My boys
following me. And so I got down here at the
city building, and as I walked in, we helped people buy groceries,
you know. A lot of folks down on Front
Street and other places. young black lady standing. She'd
been arrested. She's standing just inside the
door. And I walked in between those two policemen. She said,
well, here's Reverend Mahan. I said, you reckon you could
help me out? I said, no, pray not this time. I need help. So the police in Cattlesburg
came, and I got in the back seat of their car. We started toward
Cattlesburg. And one of the officers turned around and said, my wife
listens to you every morning on the radio. I said, we sure
do enjoy your broadcast. I said, well, I'm glad. I was
downhearted. We pulled into Kettlesburg and
went into the city, Bill, and there they had a judge or somebody
gotten up and come down there. And I said now, I explained it
to him. And he said to me, he said, well,
he said, I understand your situation, but said the law wants you because
you're on the, you're on the, whatever this thing is here,
I don't know what he called it, but said, got your name on it
and you're liable. But he said, tell you what I'll
do. I'll stay here. And by that time, my sons were
there. I said, you call this other boy
and his father and get them up here. And he said, if they come,
you can go home. They come take your place, in
other words. So they got him on the phone. It was about 20
or 25, 30 minutes. And they wasn't glad to see anybody.
That boy and his daddy walked in. And the boy stood in front
of the judge and said, I did it. I did. I confess, I did it. I'd have been here before, but
I didn't know what the situation was. There I stood, and the judge
turned to me and he said, well, you can go on home. And I walked
out that door free, because that boy stood there in my place.

Behold, My Servant

What does the Bible say about Jesus as God's servant?

How do we know Jesus fulfilled the law?

Why is Jesus' righteousness important for Christians?

What does it mean that God is pleased with Jesus?

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Behold, My Servant

What does the Bible say about Jesus as God's servant?

How do we know Jesus fulfilled the law?

Why is Jesus' righteousness important for Christians?

What does it mean that God is pleased with Jesus?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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