Let us open our Bibles this evening
again to the prophecy of Isaiah, and tonight we've come to chapter
48. Isaiah 48. I'm sure you've heard over the years
men refer to this prophet as the Gospel of Isaiah, because
it seems as Isaiah, more than maybe any of the other Old Testament
prophets, was blessed with bringing forth the truth of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We look last week at chapter
47, in which we saw the destruction of the nation of Babylon. And
we looked at the fact that spiritual Babylon also had a beginning
and shall have an end. Tonight, chapter 48 continues
with the same general theme that we have been seeing since we
began in chapter 40. And it concerns the captivity
and the deliverance of the nation of Israel after 70 years in Babylon. The nation was guilty, guilty
of idolatry, of turning from the true and the living God unto
what the scripture sometimes call lying vanities, lying vanities. You know, vanity is nothing,
nothing. And that's what idols are, nothing,
nothing. And yet they lie to those who
look to them The psalmist David wrote, I have hated them that
regard lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord. All worship, all
worship, all worship that is not according to the will and
the word of God. The will of God, which is revealed
in the word of God, is worshiping in vain. All worship. It's will worship. That's what
the Apostle Paul calls it in Colossians, will worship. That
is, worship that is dependent upon the will of men. Our worship,
our faith, what we believe, and our practice must all be based
upon God's written word. The Word of God. Now, Jonah,
it's interesting that I looked up the term lying vanities, and
Jonah said this, they that observe lying vanities, lying vanities,
idols, they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. And that's certainly what the
nation of Israel had done. They had forsaken the fountain
of living waters and hewn out broken cisterns, which could
hold no water. Now, several times in these chapters,
the Lord has showed a big difference between himself and these dumb
idols. And that is by his omniscience. The fact that God knows everything. In fact, if you look back to
chapter 41, some of you maybe remember this, but God, as it
were, challenges. He challenges, rather, these
lying vanities, these idols, to prove themselves. Show yourself
to be God. Prove yourself by revealing something
that is yet future, that is going to come. like God himself did
and does. He did. Here in chapter 41, if
you look in verse 21, it says, produce your cause, saith the
Lord, bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth and
show us what shall happen. Let your idols tell us what's
going to take place, what's going to happen. Let them show the
former things what they be, that we may consider them and know
the latter end of them, or declare us things for to come. Show the
things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are
gods. Prove yourself, reveal something
that is yet future, that's going to take place, and show yourself
to be a god. Of course, these idols could
not do that because they're dead, dumb, lying vanities. The Lord God foretold the future. If you look back in our chapter
tonight, chapter 48, in verse three, he said, I have declared
the former things from the beginning. And they went forth out of my
mouth and I showed them. I did them suddenly, and they
came to pass. God declared ahead of time what
was going to take place. Now the writers say that this
verse here, verse three, refers to God's words to Abraham concerning
his posterity, concerning what would happen to his nation. If
you turn back, keep your places here, but go back to Genesis
chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15, when God
spoke to Abraham and told him what was going to take place
with his posterity, the nation of Israel, the Jews. In Genesis
15, and beginning with verse 13, And he, that is God said
unto Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they
shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom
they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come
out with great substance. Now, look with me in Exodus and
see how this was fulfilled, what God told Abraham would happen
to his posterity, Jacob. And isn't it amazing how Israel
got down into Egypt? But Joseph being sold into slavery
by his brothers. And Joseph went through a lot
of hard knocks, didn't he? A lot of hard experiences there
on his way to the throne. But that's where he ended up.
He was next to Pharaoh. In other words, there was none
above him other than Pharaoh. And he was in charge of all things.
And God revealed to him about the seven years of plenty and
the seven years of nothing, so to speak. And it wasn't long
before Jacob said to his sons, go down there and buy corn. I've
heard there's corn in Egypt. Joseph is such a beautiful picture,
such a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll have
to save that for another time. But that's how Israel got down
there. And of course, when Joseph was
alive, they were the fair-haired people of Egypt. But after a
while, after Joseph had died, there came a man on the throne
of Pharaoh who didn't know Joseph, and they became servants and
slaves. All of that in God's purpose,
right? But look in Exodus, if you will,
chapter 12 and verse 41. You know the word awesome is
used quite a bit, it seems like today. But our God is an awesome God. He knows all things, and the
reason He knows, Scripture says, known unto Him are all His works
from the beginning of the world. The reason He knows what's going
to take place is because He has purposed and ordained what shall
take place. His providence says, we saw in
the lesson this morning, the Bible's lesson, is providence,
God's providence, is the outworking of His purpose, His counsel,
that was fixed and determined in eternity. But here in Exodus
chapter 12, we see the fulfillment of what God told Abraham would
happen to his posterity, his family. Here in verse 41, it
says, and it came to pass at the end of 430 years, even the
self same day, it came to pass that all the hosts of the Lord
went out from the land of Egypt. Just as God had said, they went
out from the land of Egypt. Now back in our text, Isaiah
chapter 48, not only is the Lord God Almighty omniscient. Does he know all things? But
notice these three things he declares about himself in verses
12 and 13. Hearken unto me, O Jacob and
Israel, my called. I am he. I am the first. I also am the last. Mine hand
also hath laid the foundation of the earth, And my right hand
has spanned the heavens. When I call unto them, they stand
up together. In those two verses, the Lord
God declares, first of all, his eternity. I am. He doesn't say I was or I shall
be, but he is the eternal I am. He also declares his immutability. God doesn't change. I am the
first, and I'm the last. There's no change with God. And
he declares his power. He speaks of the heavens. We love to look up into the heavens,
don't we, and see the millions of stars. Who knows? God knows. He's the only one, right? And
the amazing thing, one of the amazing things, every one of
those stars is named. And God named him. But as easy
as you go into your bedroom or house and maybe you have a window
with a curtain and you stretch it out there, open it up, that's
the way God stretched out the heavens. The power of Almighty
God. He spoke and it came into being. He now, in these verses, these
chapters we've been looking at, he now had foretold the name
Cyrus, the Persian ruler who would conquer Babylon. God would raise him up as his
servant. The amazing thing is God foretold
his name. His name is Cyrus. Now he'd be
born approximately 200 years in the future. I was reading
in First Kings, through First Kings this past week, and chapter
13, that old prophet that God sent to prophesy to Jeroboam
there with his false gods, those idols of gold and his altar that
he had constructed. And God told, through that prophet,
that he was going to raise up a man by the name of Josiah,
and he would offer the bones upon those altars, upon his altar
that he was standing at. And remember, Jeroboam, he got
mad, didn't he? The king's a haughty person,
you know, he's not used to anybody saying anything to him, but when
his, was it his hand turned to leprosy, or I believe it was,
he asked that prophet to pray for him. But here's my point.
Here, God told the name of Cyrus approximately 200 years before
he was born. But in that case, according to
what I've read and studied, it was 350 years before Josiah would
come to the throne of Judah and do exactly what that prophet
said would take place. 350 years. But what's time to
God? 300 years, 200 years, 2,000 years. God knows the end from the beginning. Now, for the rest of my time
tonight, I want to speak to us from verses 16 and 17 in this
chapter, chapter 48, verses 16 and 17. Come ye near unto me. Hear ye this, I've not spoken
in secret from the beginning. From the time it was, there am
I. And now the Lord God and his
spirit has sent me. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord thy God, which
teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that
thou shouldest go. What we're going to do is apply
these verses to the Lord Jesus Christ because it is a prophecy
of him, no doubt. And I'm going to accept what
John Gill said about the words in verse 16. He said these words
could be rendered like this. Now the Lord God has sent me
and his spirit. Now the Lord God has sent me,
verse 16. Now the Lord God has sent me
and his spirit. That's the way we're going to
look at them. So first of all, the Lord God
has sent me. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent
by God the Father. How many verses in the New Testament,
how many times do we see that this truth, that the Father sent
the Son? Think of 1 John. Hearing His
love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His
Son, sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. The Lord God has
sent me. sending, the Father sending the
Son was of course part of what the Son of God covenanted to
do in that everlasting covenant between the Father and Son and
Holy Spirit before the world began. He consented to be sent
into the world and he was sent into the world by his incarnation. Now, When he spoke, when the
Lord Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, he told him this amazing thing,
several amazing things. We think about the fact that
you must be born again. If a person is not born again,
he cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God, because
the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. The Lord told Academus, there
he was speaking to him like I'm before you talking, and he confessed
to him that while he was talking to him there, he was in heaven. He was in heaven. The Lord God
has sent me. He sent him by his incarnation. In other words, that body that
was prepared him by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, he
took into union with his person, the eternal Son of God. It doesn't mean the Son left
heaven and came down here. There's no movement, but he became,
was made flesh by assuming that body, joining that body to his
person as the son of God. That's the reason he could say
that while he spoke with him on earth, he was in heaven. As
God, he is one with the Father and one with the Holy Spirit. But he consented to be sent into
the world by his incarnation. The scripture says, but when
the fullness of the time was come, God's time, God's calendar. God's never behind time and he's never ahead. He teaches us, doesn't he, to
wait upon the Lord. He's never behind, he's never
ahead. But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law. He sent forth his son. I want
you to look at one place with me. In Romans chapter seven. I'm sorry, Romans chapter eight. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. Now that's the gospel. The law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the gospel, hath made
me free from the law of sin and death, that old law, that old
covenant that revealed our sinfulness for what the law could not do.
It couldn't, didn't have the power for what the law could
not do and that it was weak through the flesh. Whose flesh? Our flesh. The law said do, but
we couldn't do. God requires perfection. We could
not render that. And that it was weak through
the flesh, but now notice, God sending his own son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. I heard someone quote this verse
several weeks ago, I believe it was, and they left out the
likeness of sinful flesh. They quoted it, God sending His
own Son in the likeness of flesh. No, He didn't come in the likeness
of flesh. The Word was made flesh. He became
man. But it was in the likeness of
sinful flesh. In other words, He looked like
other men, but with this great exception, He had no sin. He had no sin. sending his own son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin, for the sins of those he represented,
for his people. Their sins were imputed unto
him, charged to his account, condemned their sins in him. He was condemned that we might
know no condemnation in Christ. that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. So back in our text, first of
all, the Lord God has sent me. Verse 16, come you near unto
me, hear you this, I've not spoken in secret from the beginning,
from the time that it was, there am I, and now the Lord God in
his spirit has sent me. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Redeemer of his people, of Israel, spiritual Israel. In the New
Testament, there are several Greek words which are translated
by our English word, redeem. I want to give you three. The
English word itself, what is the meaning of the English word?
What does it mean to redeem? Well, the dictionary definition
is the obtaining of something by paying the proper price for
it. That's what it means to redeem.
The obtaining of something by paying the proper price for it.
One word that is used and translated redeemed means to purchase, to
purchase. So the redeemed are said to be
bought with a price, bought. Bought. Purchased with a price. And the word translated bought
carries with it the idea of going to the market, that is by implication,
to purchase. Going to the market to purchase. Specifically to redeem. Now that's one of the words. Bought. Another word that is
used means to buy again. are out of. Thus, in Galatians
3 and verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law
being made a curse for us. And a third word that is used
means the deliverance of a slave by paying a ransom price. Believers are said to be redeemed
not with things that usually serve to pay a ransom. Usually
if someone kidnaps someone, they want a ransom, they want to be
paid in gold or silver, but we are not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
Jesus Christ. Now when we put these three things
together, this is what we see. The Lord Jesus came into the
world and redeemed out of the market those that justice, God's
justice, had a claim upon and who were captives to sin. The word means out of, also carries
the connotation of never to be returned there again. The Lord God sent me. Be the Redeemer. He came into
the marketplace. He came into this world, and
he bought out his people, those that justice had a claim upon. And he bought us out, never to
be returned to slavery again. Never again. The psalmist said the redemption
of their soul is precious. The redemption of your soul.
Have you been redeemed? We sing that hymn, I am redeemed,
not with silver, not with gold, but with the blood of Christ.
Have you been redeemed? Your redemption cost a whole
lot. It cost the life and death of
the son of God. The redemption, that's what the
psalmist said, the redemption. is costly. The redemption of
their soul is precious, costly. Nothing but the blood of the
Redeemer, the Holy One, could. Now listen. Hear me now. Nothing but His precious blood
could redeem and did redeem. He didn't just try. He accomplished. He redeemed His people. out of the slave market of sin
that we would never, ever be returned there again. And I'm convinced this is so
important because we live in a day and a time when most so-called
Christians are telling people that Christ just made salvation
possible, that He just made redemption possible, and now if you'll do
your part then that redemption will be accomplished. That's
not the truth. That's not the truth. Christ
redeemed his people. And everyone that he redeemed,
he redeemed for himself. The devil's not going to get
them. That's for sure. All right, notice the next thing
in the text. The Lord Jesus not only is our
priest, as our redeemer, but he is also our prophet. Look at the words in verse 16.
Hear you this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning.
Now listen to our Lord's words in John 18, verse 20, when he
was arrested and brought before the high priest. These are his
words. I spoke openly to the world. I ever taught in the synagogue
and in the temple. Whether the Jews always resort
and in secret, have I said nothing. I have said nothing. Also, you
notice in verse 17, as a prophet, it says, he teacheth us, teacheth
thee to profit. He teacheth thee to profit. He
teaches us those things that are profitable. Profitable. Profitable for time and for eternity. Things that are profitable. He
teaches us. And you notice the ending of
that verb, E-T-H, which means it's continuous action. He teacheth
us. God's children, when a person
is born again of the Spirit of God, he's born just like a baby
born into this world, has all its members. It's not going to
grow any more toes or fingers or anything like that. But they're
gonna get bigger. They're gonna increase. And when
a person is born again of the Spirit of God, that new man that is created
in righteousness and true holiness has all its parts. But we grow. He teaches us. And he's given
us ministers. The scripture says in Ephesians
chapter four, that he has given gifts unto men. And what's the
purpose? He names those gifts, which are
prophets and teachers and apostles and pastors. And what's the purpose? For the perfecting of the saints,
edifying, building up of the saints. He teaches us. And then
notice, fourthly and finishing, the Lord Jesus is our King. He's
our praise to redeem us. He's our prophet to teach us.
But notice also, He's our King as well. He leads thee by the
way that thou should go. Think about that. He leads thee
by the way that thou should go. In other words, He leads us out
of the wrong way. The wrong way is the broad way,
which leads to destruction. He leads us out of the broad
way to the right way. And He is the right way, the
only way to the Father. Now, in closing, look with me
at one other verse, if you will, in John 16. I'm sorry, John 14, verse 16. John 14. Remember, we are using
what John Gale said we could use, that he sent me and his
spirit. He sent his son. He's also sent
his spirit. John chapter 14, verse 16. Our
Lord said, and I will pray the Father and he shall give you
another comforter that he may abide with you forever. Even
the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. But you know him, for he
dwelleth with you and shall be in you. God not only has sent
his son into this world to be our savior, but he has sent his
spirit into our hearts, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. I trust the Lord will bless the
thoughts and words tonight. When you read the Bible, and
I know you do, no matter where you read, always look for Christ. Always look for Christ because
truly, as someone said many years ago, it is a hymn book, H-I-M,
a hymn book. It all speaks of hymn in some
way. It points us to hymn. David,
if you will, come and lead us in our hymn.