Series:
Isaiah
Title: For
Those Who Fear the Lord
Text:
Isaiah 50: 10-11
Date:
February 10, 2013
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Our
text is Isaiah 50: 10. But let’s read verses
10 and 11 together. In these verses, we
find two very different persons:
·
The first is rare, v10: “Who among you”; The
second is very common, v11: “Behold, all ye.”
·
The first is said to v10: “fear the Lord, and
obey the voice of his servant”; the second to: v11: “kindle his own fire”;
·
The first is said: v10: "to walk in
darkness, and to have no light,"; the second, v11: "to walk in the light
of your own fire, and in the sparks ye have kindled."
·
The first is encouraged v10: "to trust
in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God,"; the second is promised
by the Lord, v11: "this ye shall have of mine own hand; ye shall lie down
in sorrow.”
We
already see that we want to be found as the first person, not as the second.
We will use verse 10 for our Divisons: 1) Who is among you that feareth the LORD, 2) Who obeyeth
the voice of his servant 3) Who walketh in darkness, and hath no light? 4) We
will consider the instruction: “let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay
upon his God.”
This is
Christ Jesus speaking. Christ has borne the cross and satisfied divine justice
for all those given to him of the Father. By suffering the cross, by his obedience,
blood and death, Christ has redeemed his elect. Those he has quickened and
called to faith are now complete in him. And we are called to obey him, to bear
his cross as we bear witness of him in the earth. So as we suffer for his name’s
sake, Christ instructs us in the only way we can obey him and bear his cross.
Proposition: Christ Jesus is here instructing us to look to him and
follow him as he followed the LORD God when he bore the cross and redeemed us
by laying down his life.
I. WHO IS AMONG YOU THAT FEARETH THE LORD?
This
“fear” is that holy reverence which believers have from being born again of the
Spirit of Christ and taught of him. It comes from Christ calling us and
teaching us, just as the LORD God called and taught Christ. The LORD God called
Christ his servant and taught him for a reason.
Isaiah 50: 4: The Lord GOD hath given me the
tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to [him
that is] weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as
the learned.
Because
the LORD God called and taught Christ (as his servant, the Son of Man), when
Christ walked this earth, Christ only spoke what the LORD God taught him to
speak. It was because Christ was taught the “fear of the LORD God.” “He was
heard in that he feared”
John 8:28: Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted
up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am [he,] and [that] I do nothing
of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. 29: And he
that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always
those things that please him. 30: As he spake these words, many believed on
him.
Like as
Christ was called and taught of the LORD God, so Christ calls and teaches his
people, making us his servants, using us to bear witness of him in the earth. Christ
taught his disciples, what the Father taught Christ, giving his disciples the
“fear of the LORD.” So they went forth
teaching only what Christ sent them to speak.
John 17:8 For I
have given unto them the words which thou gavest me;…14 I have given them thy word; and the world
hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world….18: As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them
into the world…. 20: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word;… 26: And I have declared unto them thy name,
and will declare [it]: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in
them, and I in them.
It is
only when Christ gives us “the fear of the LORD God” that we speak his word in
truth, rather than our own. As we do, we
shall suffer even as Christ and the disciples suffered--“I have given them thy
word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as
I am not of the world.”
And as
we suffer, we become weary in this world.
But it is through his earthen vessels speaking his word in truth that
Christ continues to speak a word in season to us who are weary. We see it in this chapter: it was Isaiah who
was declaring this very word of Christ. By it, Christ was ministering to his
true elect in Babylonian captivity. As that remnant of believers spoke to their
fellow countrymen, the rebellious Israelites reproached them like they did
Isaiah. So Christ sent Isaiah to speak a word in season to them that were
weary.
I marvel
at the wisdom of God in choosing to save his people through the preaching of
the gospel. Oh, the wisdom of God in making his people to unite in his fold
under the gospel of our chief Shepherd!
Some
think we are exalting men or the church or making light of the written
word. But it pleased God to save by the
foolishness of preaching for two chief reasons:
First,
that no flesh should glory in his presence—God does not use any man till he
makes us see we are nothing.
Secondly,
it is because it pleased God that in all things Christ might have the
preeminence.
Colossians 1: 18: And 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. 19: For it pleased the Father that in him should
all fulness dwell
Men
reject this truth because the enmity of the carnal mind is against THE Shepherd
receiving the Preeminence. He told Samuel, “they have not rejected thee, but
they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”
Do you
want Christ to receive all the glory? Well, Christ has been raised from the
dead and given all power in heaven and in earth to perform this work from
heaven. This is Christ’s glory! “He
filleth all in all.” Our High Priest is passed into the heavens and he is the “minister
of the true sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and
not man.” (Heb 8: 1-2). Christ has all
power to send his gospel, he said, “They shall all know me from the least to
the greatest.” “He shall not fail till he hath set judgment in the earth: and
the isles shall wait for his law.”
Brethren,
are you weary of reproaches? Are you
weary of men with a form of godliness, denying this power of our Sovereign
Savior? Well, I pray today, he speaks a
word in season to you who are weary.
II. v10: WHO AMONG YOU OBEYETH THE VOICE OF
THE LORD’S SERVANT?
The
LORD’s servant is Christ. To obey the Voice
of Christ is to follow Christ like Christ followed the Father. How did Christ become the servant of the LORD
and obey the LORD God?--v5: The Lord GOD
hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
If we
truly believe on Christ it will be by Christ the Prophet opening our hear, as
the LORD God opened his? Remember the picture in the willing bond servant:
Exodus 21: 5: And if the servant shall plainly say, I
love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: 6 Then his
master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or
unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he
shall serve him for ever.
When
the LORD God opened Christ’s ear the LORD gave Christ a work to do to glorify
God and to save his bride, his children. Christ would have to come down, make
himself of no reputation; Christ would have to obey the LORD God, speak the words
his Master gave him to speak, suffer rejection; Christ would have to bear the
sin of his people, suffer shame of the cross, even unto death.
How did
Christ serve his Master? Christ said, v5: “and I was not rebellious, neither
turned away back.” Christ willingly served his Master because he loved God and
he loved his bride, his children.
Now
Christ says to you that he has brought the gospel unto right here right now,
“Who among you obeyeth the Voice of his servant. Who among you obeyeth the
Voice of Christ?” He says: you will
have to come down, make yourself of no reputation, submit to God’s will; you
will have to obey Christ—believe on him, speak what Christ gives you to speak,
wait on Christ to make the word effectual in the hearts of his people; you will
have to bear his cross, suffering rejection, bearing burdens of our brethren, from
the beginning even unto death. But by
opening our ear, Christ makes his child a willing bond servant:
2 Corinthians 5: 14: For the love of Christ constraineth
us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15: And
that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Makes
us willing to unite with his church, be used of Christ to set forth his gospel,
as we wait on Christ to call out his bride, his children. It is reasonable
service to us because:
1 John 3:16: Hereby perceive we the love of God, because
he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren.
Christ
our Master says to us, “Now, for you who obey my voice, remember how I served, I
was not rebellious, neither turned away back.”
When our Lord walked this earth, many followed him for a while. Then he
would teach them a certain truth that offended them then the thoughts and
intents of their hearts were exposed: they became rebellious, turned away back,
and walked no more with him.
John 5: 67: Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also
go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art
that Christ, the Son of the living God.
But brethren,
though he has made us willing in the inner man, in our flesh, dwells no good
thing. Therefore, we have no sufficiency for these things? But remember the
power is of Christ, not of us. So he asks this question.
III. v10: WHO AMONG YOU WALKETH IN DARKNESS,
AND HATH NO LIGHT?
Believer’s
have the Light of Christ and we walk in his Light, but this darkness has to do
with our suffering in this present world.
Our flesh is darkness and hath no light—infirmities and sin in our flesh.
This world is darkness and hath no light--“the valley of the shadow of death.” We
face many trials full of darkness. So here, our Savior speaks a word in season
to us who are weary. He tells us to remember how he suffered for us--v6: I gave my back to the smiters, and my
cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and
spitting.
Brethren,
there are times when we go through dark seasons—no joy, no comfort. We are prone to think that the Lord has
removed all his blessings from us. By
doing so we are making our feelings the determining factor as to whether or not
the Lord is with us. When our senses only
see darkness, it does not mean grace does not exist toward us from Christ
above.
The
example is the Lord upon the cross. Was there ever sorrow like his sorrow? No
one has ever been forsaken like he was forsaken? Darkness covered the whole
earth, darkness engulfed him—all light was gone. He experienced a total eclipse of all joy within
and without.
BUT THOUGH GOD FORSOOK CHRIST ON THE CROSS
BECAUSE JUSTICE DEMANDED IT, IT DID NOT MEAN THAT HIS FATHER HAD GIVEN HIM UP—BUT
RATHER WHAT HE WAS SUFFERING WAS FULFILLING THE WILL OF HIS FATHER WHO SENT
HIM.
Isaiah 53: 11: He shall see of the travail of his soul,
and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12: Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because
he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the
transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors.
So when
our Savior brings us to suffer for his
name’s sake, he speaks a word in season, and he says,
IV. THE INSTRUCTION: v10: Who is among you
that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in
darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay
upon his God.
Our
Savior said--v7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore
shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I
know that I shall not be ashamed. 8 He
is near that justifieth me. In all his suffering—though the Father had
turned his face—he knew his covenant LORD God would be true to his word. Though
God, as his Judge stood afar off, executing justice upon him in place of his
people, yet, when that justice was satisfied, Christ knew, “He is near that justifieth me”
So while
the sea raged around him—his anchor held within the veil, anchored upon the
faithfulness of that One who had called him, and opened his ear, and sent him
to that cross to glorify his name. He said, “therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not
be ashamed”
AND THE
LORD GOD DID NOT MAKE HIM ASHAMED OF TRUSTING THE LORD GOD. He raised him again
for our justification—declaring him to be the Son of God with power.
Get this:
The LORD God set Christ at his right hand and gave him all power in heaven and
in earth so that Christ our Head might now work from his throne in glory toward
his Redeemed this same work which the Father taught him and worked toward him
while he walked this earth serving him.
Now Our
resurrected Prophet, Priest and King instructs us to do as he did. Though we can’t see him for all the waves
raging around us, he says, “trust in the
name of the LORD, and stay upon [your] God.”
AND GET
THIS GREAT WORD OF COMFORT: Christ knows we are but dust—that is why he was
given that glory in the heavens to minister to us: so with that same power and
glory wherewith he first sent his gospel and called us, he continues to send
his word like he has here today and speaks a word in season to our weary
hearts; so it not us, not our feelings, not our power that sustains us—it is
our Hope—capital H—within the veil who holds us. Our Anchor shall never give
way.
Brethren,
I want him to have his Mediatorial glory by which he sends forth his gospel, don’t
you? I need this gospel, I need him to
speak a word to my weary heart and keep me, else I perish. Now look at this.
He
says, now you can say as he said from the cross, v8: “who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary?
let him come near to me. 9: Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that
shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat
them up.”
Now, if
you reject this power and glory of our glorious Head, for that second kind of
person in verse 11: He says, v11:
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.
But to
you called by our all-powerful Head, he says, v10: trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon your God.
He says
run the race that I have set before you…”
Hebrews 12: 2: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher
of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3:
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Amen!