Series: Isaiah
Title: God’s Gift
Text: Isaiah 55: 4-6
Date: May 18, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Isaiah 55: 4: Behold, I have given him for
a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. 5: Behold, thou
shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew
not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One
of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. 6: Seek ye the LORD while he may be
found, call ye upon him while he is near:
In this
chapter God bids every one that is thirsty to come to the waters; he says come
buy wine and milk, without money and without price. He tells us eat that which is good, to let
your soul delight itself in fatness. He promised our souls life; he promised to
make an everlasting covenant with us, even the sure mercies of David.
In our
text today, God tells us that all of this is found one place—Christ Jesus his
Son. Isaiah 55: 4: Behold, I have given
him…
Christ
Jesus is the sum and substance of the gospel.
For those who know him, we come to his table daily, we come here to
feast upon his full provision week-in and week-out.
For
those of you who have never cast your care on Christ, may God now make
Christ your all and draw you to
irresistibly put all your hope in him.
Divisions: 1)
The gift of God; 2) The purpose of God; 3) The promise of God; 4) The reason
God gives 5) The exhortation God gives
Proposition: God has given his Son and exalted Christ therefore God’s
promises us that Christ shall save his people from our sins, so God exhorts
sinners to come to Christ that we might be saved.
I. THE GIFT OF GOD—Isaiah 55: 4: Behold, I
have given him…
God the
Father gave his Son, Christ Jesus, as a gift to save his people from our sins. In doing so, God the Father gave himself. And God the Son, consented to be given—he
gave himself—Isaiah 55: 4: Behold, I
have given him…
2 Corinthians 9:15: Thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift.
What
need was there so dire that God must give himself in the person of his only
begotten Son? The people that God
chose to be his particular people turned rebel against God. God made us upright in our first father Adam. He graciously gave us one law to set forth his authority as our God. But in Adam we said, “No, God.” We transgressed God’s law. Sin entered and we died. We became the
captives of Satan. We fell under the curse of God’s holy law. Justice demanded we die eternally in
hell!
So then
if God will receive all the glory for being our Justifier then God must come
and do the justifying himself—Isaiah 55:
4: Behold, I have given him…
If God
will receive all glory for being just then God must lay down his own life in
place of his people to suffer and satisfy justice for them—Isaiah 55: 4: Behold, I have given him…
If God
will receive the glory for reconciling his people unto himself then God must do
the reconciling-- Isaiah 55: 4: Behold,
I have given him…
This is why it was necessary that God provide
himself a Lamb. “To
declare I say, HIS righteousness, that HE might be just and [THAT HE MIGHT BE]
the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” (Rom 3: 26)
Now, because
Christ, finished the work, God, and God alone, receives all the glory. God has
done all the work of satisfying his justice and of justifying his people in the
person of his only begotten Son. The only work left to be done is to bring the
good news to his people: to regenerate us, to grant us faith and repentance, to
give us this eternal Life in his Son!
Illustration: The only thing free is a gift! My son, William, had
birthday this week. He turned 11. We gave him gifts! He paid nothing for those gifts. A gift is
free! This righteousness of God, this justification of God, this eternal life
of God, is his gift to his people in his Son.
1 John 5: 11: And this is the record, that God hath given
to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12: He that hath the Son hath
life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Sinner,
has God given you the Son of God? Is
Christ your one and only Life? Your only Life? Your only Life? Sometimes,
it is not laying hold of the truth that causes the offense—it is letting go of,
and renouncing all other false refuges. Every believer is justified,
reconciled, redeemed, made righteous and God is just to show us mercy because—Isaiah 55: 4: Behold, I have given him…
2 Corinthians 9:15: Thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift.
And get
this brethren:
Romans 11:29: the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance.
God
continually gives his Son and Christ continually gives himself into the hearts
of his people every day—into our hearts who already believe, as well as, into
the hearts of those believing for the first time. If we grasp this truth, we
will have great rejoicing! Believer, Christ is yours, and yours forever!
But until
God shows us our need we are too blind to know Christ is the unspeakable gift. Until then we run after fool’s gold! Perishing things of clay born but for one
brief day! Bubbles! Mirages! Heed God’s
word. Do not spend your life in the pursuit of vanity!
II. THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH GOD GAVE CHRIST—Isaiah
55: 4:…for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the
people.
Witness
God
gave Christ—“for a Witness to the people.”
The only way for you and I to know “the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
he has sent” is for Christ to reveal in us, who God is. He reveals God to us in a
way so our limited, feeble capacity can comprehend. Christ reveals—in the flesh he assumed—the invisible God who is
Spirit. Christ said, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;” (Jn 14: 9)
Matthew 11:27: All things are delivered unto me of my
Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the
Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Christ is
a witness to his people of the holiness of God, of the holiness of his law. In
Christ, we see how holy God is: God spared not his only begotten Son! Christ
alone magnified and made honorable the law! God is satisfied in his Son alone. We
must be made the righteousness of God through faith in Christ!
Christ
reveals the covenant mercies of God, revealing what God has done for his
people. He shows us the necessity of
salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, apart from works of
righteousness which we have done. The
law never revealed this, only Christ.
John 1: 14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth. 17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ. 18: No man hath seen God at any time; the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Leader
Also, God gave Christ for a Leader to the people. Christ is the Leader who leads his
people in the way we must go in order to be saved.
Isaiah 48:17: 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.
A
sinner, left to himself, will never come out of hiding in the darkness, to
Christ the Light, until Christ leads him out!
John 3:
16: For God so loved the world, [for God, after this manner, loved the world]
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. 17: For God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18: He
that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God. 19: And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20: For every
one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. 21: But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that
his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
After
this manner God loved the world, he gave his Son to Lead his people out of
darkness to Christ the Light! It is the glory of Christ to do so. This is one
reason we preach the necessity of regeneration and God-given faith and repentance.
It is for Christ’s glory! Left to himself, a sinner will never come out of his
prison cell of bondage. But God gave
Christ to lead his people out of our prison of bondage, out of darkness to
light.
Isaiah 49:9: That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go
forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the
ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. 10: They shall not hunger
nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy
on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
And
Christ leads us by example, teaching us: faith, commitment, love, obedience and
humility.
John 13: 14: If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed
your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15: For I have given you
an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
1 Peter 2: 21: For even hereunto were ye called: because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his
steps: 22: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23: Who, when
he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but
committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24: Who his own self
bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should
live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25: For ye were as
sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your
souls.
Commander
Also, God
gave Christ for a Commander to the
people. First, Christ is a Commander in the sense of a King commanding his subjects. The text I
just read from Isaiah 49 says,
Isaiah 49:9: That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go
forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves.
When
Christ gives the Command in power that is when his child obeys. And only then,
that Christ might have all the glory for making us willing.
Psalm 110:3: Thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power,…
This is
one reason why we renounce the lie of free-will religion—it is Christ’s glory
as our Commander to make his people willing.
Romans 9:16: So then it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
And all
Christ’s commands are ours to follow: not to earn salvation by them, but to
testify of our subjection to Christ our Commander.
Secondly,
Christ is a "commander" in a military way. He is the all-victorious
Captain of our salvation. It is as the
Commander of his people that he sends forth his generals with the good news
that our warfare is accomplished!
Isaiah 40: 1: Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
your God. 2: Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her
warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received
of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.
To The People
Before
we leave this point, notice to whom Christ is given—“to the people.” “THE people” are a particular people: chosen of
God, everlastingly loved of God, redeemed by God, regenerated by God, preserved
by God, raised by God, glorified by God. They are all sorts of people: young
and old, rich and poor, bound and free, Jew and Gentile, educated and
uneducated. Not a few but a multitude no man can number. The one thing “the people” all have in common is that
we are sinners saved altogether by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, apart from
any works contributed on our part!
Sinner, are you one of “the people.” Is Christ your
Witness, Leader and Commander? All our
salvation? If so then you want him alone
to have all the glory!
III. THIRDLY, GOD
GIVES US A PROMISE OF WHAT CHRIST SHALL ACCOMPLISH IN HIS PEOPLE—Isaiah 55: 5:
Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that
knew not thee shall run unto thee …
What
does this mean? “thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not?” Christ is not
calling “nations”. The word speaks of individual sinners from among all
nations.
Also, Christ
knows each individual sinner that is his, even while we are lost in sin. Our
names were written in the Lambs book of life before the foundation of the
world.
2 Timothy 2: 9: The foundation of God standeth sure,
having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.
Yet,
before his child is given a new nature, and faith in Christ, they are such vile
sinners that: Christ does not acknowledge them or their works at all! And to
all appearances, one would think, that Christ does not know them at all.
Likewise, they do not know Christ—v5 “and nations that knew not thee.”
1. They may know “another jesus” who is not another—but
they know not that Jesus whom God sent!
·
Nor do they want to know him!
·
While dead in sins the sinner is perfectly
content with the jesus he has created in his vain imagination.
Yet, what grace!—“Behold, thou shalt call”…and they “shall
run unto thee.” Thankfully, Christ shall call all those who are his, “thou
shalt call.” Thankfully, Christ’s call is effectual—“they shall run unto thee.” Such is the gracious, effectual call
of God that when Christ calls then his people make haste, they run to Christ.
But how can God say this with such certainty—they shall! Man
has a will. Does God force a man to run to Christ against his will? Oh, no!
God says, They shall come. And they shall do so willingly! Here is why:
IV. THE REASON CHRIST SHALL ACCOMPLISH THIS
WORK—Isaiah 55: 5:…because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel;
for he hath glorified thee.
The
sinner gropes about in darkness—perhaps for years and years and years. He reads
the word of God but finds nothing in it to cause him to run to Christ. His
heart is enmity against God. The things
of God are foolishness to him. Perhaps, he unites with a religious
organization, follows their formulas; but all is the work of his own hands. When
he hears the truth his heart is still enflamed against the only true God. Christ
and him crucified is still foolishness unto him.
Then
one day, the LORD God of covenant grace turns on the light. God makes him to
behold “the Holy One”—Christ Jesus the Righteous. The sinner is made to see
that Christ is the only Holy One! That is when the sinner knows his own sin,
that all his works are vanity!
God
makes him to behold that Christ is the Holy One “of Israel.” Before the sinner
thought Israel was just that political nation that goes by that name. God makes
him behold “Israel” is God’s own chosen people from among all nations. God
makes the sinner behold Christ is the one who is the holiness, the
righteousness, the sanctification, the redemption, of his particular people—the
Holy One of Israel. For the first time, the sinner finds himself believing, that
he is a chosen child of God. He believes it because he believes God: that he
has no holiness, no righteousness but Christ only!
All
this comes about because “God has glorified Christ before his eyes!” For the
first time the Holy Ghost bears witness in his heart, saying,
Hebrews 10: 11: And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins:
The
sinner says, “It’s true. Nothing I have
done has put away my sins.”
Hebrews 10: 12: But this man, after he had offered one
sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13: From
henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14: For by one
offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
The
sinner says, “Yes! Yes! Christ Jesus is
the High Priest! He has risen
victorious! He has perfected me forever by his one offering!” The sinners knows
it because
Hebrews 10: 15: Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us:
“God
has glorified Christ in his new heart!” The Word becomes alive in his heart,
saying,
1 John 1: 9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10: If
we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
2; 1…And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous: 2: And he is the propitiation for our sins:
For the
first time, the sinner takes sides with God against himself, confessing his sin
to God. He comes begging mercy in Christ his Advocate, his Propitiation. And God
speaks peace into his heart, saying—
Romans 8: 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of
God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34: Who is he that condemneth? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Now,
instead of arguing against the truth of divine election, for the first time,
the sinner says, “Bless God he chose me, he justified me, Christ gave his life
for me, I have an Advocate with the Father, satisfaction has been made for me
by Christ my Mercy Seat!” The sinner does not boast in his own will or
wisdom, he confesses, I believe on
Christ for this one reason: “because of the LORD [my] God, and for the Holy One
of Israel; for he hath glorified Christ” in my heart!
Sinner,
has God glorified Christ in your heart?
I am speaking to you who have never confessed him and to you who
have. Has God glorified Christ in your
heart for the first time or again today? Then hear the exhortation:
V. THE EXHORTATION TO US FROM GOD—Isaiah 55: 6:
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
God
tells us in verse 5 what he shall do and what shall be the result by his power
and grace. Then God says, “Seek ye the
LORD, call ye upon him.” There is no inconsistency here. God declares that his people shall run to
Christ. God declares how he will
effectually glorify Christ in our hearts. Then God says, Eze 36:37:…I will yet for this be enquired of by the
house of Israel, to do it for them;
Though
our calling is to the praise of the glory of God’s grace, yet God will make his
people willing to seek Christ and call upon Christ for the mercy God has
reserved for us. Be sure to get this: the time is now. “Seek ye the LORD while he
may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:” He be found now! He is near now! That also means there shall
come a time, when he may not be found, when he shall not be near.
For you
who have never believed on Christ: Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call
ye upon him while he is near. In your heart, come to Christ confessing your sin
and begging for mercy, praising his glorious person and finished work, never
cease coming and doing so
For you
who do believe: Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while
he is near. In his word, in his gospel, at his throne of grace, always be
coming to Christ!
Amen!