Series: Isaiah
Title: Behold Christ!
Text: Isaiah 42: 1-4
Date: July 10, 2011
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
In Isaiah 42 the LORD God is speaking.
Isaiah 42: 5: Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein.
The LORD God gives a command in verse 1.
Isaiah 42: 1: Behold my servant, mine elect whom I uphold; Isaiah 42: 1: Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2: He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3: A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4: He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
The servant spoken of here is Christ Jesus the Son of God in human flesh.
Matthew 12: 14: Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. 15: But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; 16: And charged them that they should not make him known: 17: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 18: Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. 19: He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. 20: A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21: And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
Is there anyone here who has questions about who God is or how God saves sinners? Do you struggle in trials or in sin? Are you cast down and discouraged and just cannot seem to find peace in your hearts?
God the LORD tells us the one way our questions will be answered. He tells us where true spiritual discernment is found. God declares where strength and peace and direction is to be found. Here is the command of God:
Isaiah 42: 1: Behold my servant.
The way of the natural heart is to look to ourselves. Fallen man’s conception of righteousness is only a comparative righteousness—comparing ourselves with other men.
The LORD God says “Behold Jesus Christ MY Servant.” This is he who is the Righteousness of God. This is he by whom the world will be judged in righteousness.
Illustration: Diamond on a black backdrop.
Proposition: We will behold what the LORD God says of Christ, against the black backdrop of what the LORD God says all men are who are born of Adam. May God command us in the hearts effectually this day and cause us to look away from ourselves and truly Behold Christ in saving faith.
Divisions: 1: Christ is the Servant of God; 2: Christ is God’s choice; 3: Christ is God’s anointed; 4. Christ shall not fail
I. CHRIST IS THE SERVANT OF GOD
Isaiah 42: 1: Behold my servant, whom I uphold;
This is what God requires of his servant.
Deuteronomy 10: 12: And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13: To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes,…
Here is the black backdrop. This is what God says of all whom God saves by grace.
Romans 6: 17:…ye were the servants of sin,
Because of the weakness of man’s flesh, God was not able to hold up any man, that is, to entrust into the hands of any of the sons of Adam, the work of glorifying his name. God could not, nor would not, exalt any of us before the world, saying—behold is my servant.
Isaiah 41: 28: For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 29: Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.
But here is the diamond: God was able to entrust all to his Son, Christ Jesus. Christ came down from heavens glory. He took the form of a servant and served God in perfection for his people.
Isaiah 59: 16: And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
Romans 3: 25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26: To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
· By the accomplishment of propitiating—making complete satisfaction, atonement—for the sins of those given him of the Father, God is just.
· Because God’s own Son accomplished it—God is the Justifier of all who believe in his Servant.
· God holds up Christ for all to see, saying, “Behold my servant, who I uphold!”
Philippians 2: 9: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Through faith in Christ, every believer has fulfilled the whole law of God. Righteousness is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.
Romans 3: 31: Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Romans 8: 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Christ the Servant of God who made himself least in the kingdom of God to be the greatest in the kingdom of God. Behold, Christ the servant of God—believe on him and confess that all your works are wrought by Christ the Servant of God and you shall find rest for heavy laden souls! (John 3: 21.)
II. CHRIST IS THE ELECT OF GOD—THE CHOICE OF GOD THE LORD.
Isaiah 42: 1: Behold…mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth;
Here is the black backdrop. Left in our sin, would we not choose Christ, God’s choice? No.
Romans 3: 11: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Christ said, “Ye have not chosen me…”
God delights in Christ but does God delight in any outside of Christ?
Isaiah 1: 14: Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
Leviticus 26: 30: And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
Here is the diamond. Thanks be unto God, the LORD God chose Christ and delights in him.
Psalms 89:19:…I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
1 Peter 2:4:..disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
And God elected a people unto salvation in Christ, blessing us with all spiritual blessing in Christ, making us holy and without blame before God in Christ. O what grace!
Ephesians 1:4: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:…6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Behold, Christ, God’s elect and find delight for your souls in God’s electing grace.
III. CHRIST IS GOD’S ANOINTED
Isaiah 42: Behold… I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2: He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3: A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. (unto victory).
Here is the black backdrop. The spirit that is in us by nature produces only sin and sorrow.
Isaiah 50: 11: Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
Our discernment and dealing with men by nature is carnal. Christ said,
John 8: 15: Ye judge after the flesh;
We see what we are in the Pharisee’s
· We cry out—accusing others of sin
· We lift up—justifying ourselves
· We cause our voice to be heard in the streets—boasting of our many wonderful works—the Pharisee stood praying with himself saying, “I am not like other men.”
· We break the bruised reed and quench the smoking flax--the treatment of the blind man given sight, the treatment of the woman caught in adultery
Isaiah 59: 7: Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.
Proverbs 26:12: Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
Here is the diamond. God poured out the Holy Spirit upon Christ without measure
Isaiah 11: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Christ was and is tender to the weak and bruised while at the same time, he shuts the mouths of his enemies for his people. Christ brings forth judgment unto victory.
· For his people,
· To his people,
· In his people.
When the Spirit of God comes into our hearts—when he makes us to Behold Christ--he sets judgment in our hearts—he gives true discernment.
· When we behold God’s Servant—we cease looking to our service—we are complete in him.
· When we behold God’s elect—we cease rejecting God’s sovereign electing grace and delight with God in Christ who chose us in him—we are saved by free grace!
· When we hear Christ’s Voice in the season of his love—we cease crying out, lifting up ourselves, causing our voices to be heard—we follow his Voice!
When we become the bruised reed and the smoking flax—weak, worthless, worms--Christ speaks a word in season into our weary souls. He upholds us with the right hand of his righteousness—no more reeds shaken by every wind of doctrine. He binds up our broken hearts, pouring in the balm of Gilead, the oil of his love and makes our lamps to burn in his Light. Behold Christ and hear his voice and learn of him for his meek and lowly in heart toward those of a broken and contrite heart.
IV. THE LAST WORD FOR ENCOURAGMENT TO OUR HEARTS.
Isaiah 42: 2: He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Christ did not fail nor was he discouraged
· In the midst of his enemies
· Under the divine wrath of God
· Under the punishment inflicted on him as the substitute of his people
· He did not fail nor was he discouraged but endured all in perfect fidelity to God
Christ has fully satisfied the justice of God for the sins of his people
· Christ finished the work of redeeming his people in righteousness;
· Christ has set his gospel throughout the world through the messengers which he receives the glory for sending
· Christ is setting the gospel in the hearts of his people in judgment—in true discernment
· Christ shall return again when the last is called to him and none shall be lost
Application
Oh, dear sinner, are you yet trying to behold some goodness in you? Are you yet trying to come to God by your service? Hear the LORD God—BEHOLD CHRIST IN WHOM GOD DELIGHTS! Come unto him and rest in him and find delight for soul.
For his bruised reeds and his smoking flax—wait—rest in his law—in his doctrine, his gospel—of faith
· Of salvation by his wisdom
· Of justification by his righteousness
· Of sanctification by his holiness
· Of liberty by his grace
Galatians 5:5: For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Psalms 27:14: Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalms 37:34:…he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
AMEN!