The Messiah’s Associations

That’s good. All right. How do I turn this on? And, you
know, I caught me off guard. I don’t know about you folks,
but for me, it was a double pleasure not only having a few weekends where I got to revisit
the kids and and hear some other men preach. That was the blessing
to me. It’s just, as I said again, having
a number of men in our church that can really dig into God’s
Word and bring forth a message nourishment for God’s people.
It really was a special blessing for me. If you would, take your
Bibles and turn to the book of Isaiah. We’ll find ourselves in chapter
42. For those of you who have been with us a number of years,
you know that I’m in a very slow and deliberate series here during
the Christmas season. For the last four years, I’ve
taken passages from Isaiah’s prophecy and looked at those
in light of their true interpretation in light of Christ. And we have
enjoyed those. And we come just today to another
one of those great prophecies about the Savior. Isaiah chapter 42. I think every parent probably knows
that there are those children that they meet either at school
or somewhere on the block or perhaps on some team that bring
out the worst in their children, right? It always goes something
like this, that Johnny fell in with a bad crowd, right? Johnny’s never the part of the
crowd. It’s always Johnny fell in with
a bad crowd. But thankfully, the opposite
is true as well. that there are people that bring
out the best in your children. They bring out the best in you. Perhaps it’s been a mentor, a
teacher, a coach, a friend, a family member, somebody that so motivated
you that it drew out the very best that you could do and be. It’s almost the case with the
passage here this morning. Because as you will see, you
will see Christ in relationship with three different relationships. And in each case, it brings out
a different nuance of Christ’s character. We see Christ best
in relation to other people, as you will see this morning.
If you would, look and see if you can’t spot the three relationships
about which I speak this morning. We find ourselves in Isaiah chapter
42, and we’re just going to look at the first four verses. The
passage is there in its entirety in the bulletin with places for
notes. If you choose, read along with me, if you would, silently.
where Isaiah records, Behold my servant whom I uphold, my
chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him.
He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry
out or raise his voice, nor make his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he will not break. A dimly burning wick he will
not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth
justice. He will not be disheartened or
crushed until He has established justice in the earth and the
coastlands will wait expectantly for His law. The prophet Isaiah, if you’re
familiar with the book, had dealt just recently with idolatry. The vanity, the emptiness, the
worthlessness of idols. that are carved out of a tree,
part of which is thrown then into the fire and burned. Having
dealt with that and having given one great instance of God’s foreknowledge
of things to come in that prediction of Babylon just prior to this
chapter, and the deliverance therefore of the Jews because
of it, Now he turns to a more prominent example of God’s foreknowledge
and tells the people again of the coming Messiah. As we have
said throughout the book of Isaiah, it wasn’t just Handel that noticed
that there was in this book woven some incredible prophecies about
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah that was to come. The average student of Scripture
can’t help but look through the pages of Isaiah’s prophecy and
without any doubt come across these clear statements of our
glorious Messiah. And so this passage is one of
the chief passages that tells about the coming Messiah. Isaiah
42 is the first of four passages that speaks specifically of the
servant of Jehovah. That is how the Messiah here
is styled. That’s what He’s called here
in this passage. The other passages, Isaiah 49.
Flip to Isaiah 49 just briefly. In Isaiah 49, we hear again about
this servant. The Messiah. And in verse three
of 49, he says, he said to me, you are my servant, Israel, in
whom I will show my glory. But I said, I have toiled in
vain. I have spent my strength for nothing in vanity. Yet surely
the justice due me is with the Lord and my reward is with God. And you say, well, that clarifies
everything. What you have in these passages is almost a mystical,
cryptical message about the servant. You get tidbits. You get things
unveiled, uncovered prophecies. In verse five, and now says the
Lord who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob
back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him. For I am
honored in the sight of the Lord and my God is my strength. Skip
to verse 7. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer
of Israel and His Holy One, to the despised one, to the one
abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers, kings will
see and arise. Princes will also bow down because
of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has
chosen you. This is God’s servant. And what
little we’re able to glean from that particular passage about
the nature of the Messiah, we do know that God is the one that
chose him and that he has a special function for God himself. Turn,
if you would, to Isaiah 52. In Isaiah 52, the servant motif
is again taken up by the prophet. And the grand chapter of Christ
the Messiah, Isaiah 53, is introduced in Isaiah 52. Isaiah 52, verse
13. Isaiah 52, 13 says, Behold, My
servant will prosper. He will be high and lifted up
and greatly exalted. This can refer to no man. No man. Look at verse one of
chapter 53, who has believed our message and to whom is the
arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like
a tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground. He had no
stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor
appearance that we should be attracted to him. He was despised
and forsaken. And, you know, the chapter. This is God’s servant. This is the Messiah. And if you
look down at verse 11, it says that as a result of the anguish
of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant,
will justify many. This clearly points to the suffering
servant on the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt about
it. And if there’s any doubt at all
that this passage that we consider this morning, Isaiah 42, perhaps
didn’t speak of Christ, it’s clarified all that much more. By even the Lord Jesus Christ
himself in the New Testament, as Matthew records it, if you
would, I want to take you just to set the context again to Matthew
chapter 12. And then I’m going to let your
fingers relax. We’re going to go back to Isaiah 42. And we’re
going to see these relationships of the Messiah. Matthew 12. And I want to pick it up in context.
I want to take, as it were, a day in the life of our Lord and find
out how this passage came to be quoted. Isaiah 42. Matthew chapter 12 verse 9. Departing from there, he went
into their synagogue and a man was there whose hand was withered
and they questioned Jesus asking, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
so that they might accuse him? And he said to them, what man
is there among you who has a sheep? And if it falls into a pit on
the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? Jesus
challenged their hypocrisy directly with the foolishness of their
idea. How much more valuable then is
a man than a sheep? So then it is lawful to do good
on the Sabbath. And there was his answer. Then
he said to the man, stretch out your hand and he stretched it
out and it was restored to normal like the other. But the Pharisees
went out and conspired against him as to how they might destroy
him. Such was their hatred of Christ. They couldn’t even see
the glorious miracle for what it was and the Savior because
of it. They gnashed their teeth at Christ
and purposed, therefore, to kill him. And Matthew records the
following words. that this might be fulfilled.
Look at verse 18. Behold my servant whom I have
chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will
put my spirit upon him. He shall proclaim justice to
the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A battered reed
he will not break off, a smoldering wick he will not put out until
he leads justice to victory. And in his name, the Gentiles
will hope. Isaiah 42. Isaiah chapter 42. Matthew points directly this
prophecy to the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s beloved Son. The mediator
between God and man is none other than this One that the Pharisees
were so vehemently accusing. And in so doing, Matthew draws
a rather sharp contrast, doesn’t he, between Christ’s wicked opponents
In this case, the Pharisees who sought nothing more than to destroy
Him and Christ Himself. The Father’s beloved Son, gentle,
merciful, eager to do the Father’s will. This quotation, if you noticed
as you read through it, there are some differences. Because
what you had is you had in some sense a blend of Matthew quoting
not only from the Hebrew, but also from the Greek translation,
the Septuagint. And so you have almost a, if
you will, an interpretation of the passage as Matthew speaks. And as an inspired writer, inspired
by the Holy Spirit, we don’t have problems with that. If you
read this on the face of it, it’s not going to give you theological
headaches. It’s going to make you more observant.
It’s going to make you wonder why the differences are there.
But we fully affirm Matthew’s right to do that, to take the
passage and to interpret it for us. And that’s what he does.
And we’ll see that as we go. One pastor characterized this
passage here in Matthew By the following words, he said, the
cursed malice of the Pharisees against Christ, being enraged
at the convincing evidence of His miracles, they went out and
held a council against Him, how they might destroy Him. What
vexed them was not only that the miracles that He performed
honored and eclipsed theirs, but that the doctrine He preached
was directly opposite to their pride. That was the issue, wasn’t
it? their hypocrisy, their worldly
interests. You see, they pretended to be
displeased about his breaking the Sabbath, which they consider
to be a capital crime. And so they took counsel not
only to imprison or banish him, but to destroy him, kill him.
This is, people, by way of reminder, the beginning of the end. It
will only get worse from here. They begin to run down Christ
from this moment as an outlaw. That’s the context. It’s the
context of both passages or both places where this passage occurs. But I want to go back to Isaiah.
And I want to take you back to look at three relationships,
three associations, if you will, of the Messiah that as we examine
them in their context, We learn about the character or the nature
of Christ. First of all, his relationship
to the Father, his relationship to the Father, a perfect spiritually
prepared servant. Look again at verse one of Isaiah
42. Behold, my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom my soul delights. When he is called My
Servant, and that was a device used by Isaiah to point to this
Messiah that would come, it immediately puts Christ in the context of
humiliation. He is subservient to the Father. He has yielded himself. He has
humbled himself. And he can, with capital letters,
be called The Servant. We are pointed immediately, told
to look, to behold the servant. And immediately we have this
thought of lowliness and a thought that runs through the passage
and throughout the entire book as it considers the Messiah in
Isaiah’s this mysterious servant of the
Lord. As I already pointed out, he
was a central figure of so many of Isaiah’s prophecies near the
second half of Isaiah’s book. Sometimes he appears as the representative
of Israel’s righteousness, as we saw in Isaiah 49. Sometimes
of its sins. Sometimes as one who bore witness
as a prophet and messenger of God. And in this passage, standing
apart from all others in solitary greatness. This is the servant
of the Lord. We come to this passage. We come to a passage that exalts
one who has humbled himself. We come to a passage of one that
points to the Messiah as being the very servant of God. It is of Christ that is spoken
of. Not as a servant, rather. Not as a divine person, as a
servant. As one said, for such He is the
Son of God. But as a man, in His office as
mediator, as a servant of the Lord, not of angels or men, but
of His divine Father. That’s whose servant He is. It was the Father who chose him.
It was the Father who called him and sent him. It was the
Father who assigned him his great work of redemption. And it was
Christ who diligently, faithfully took up that work, who fully
performed that work. It was Christ who did that work. Christ and Christ alone is the
servant. One pastor said of him that God
owns him as one employed for him. He is my servant. And though he was a son, yet
as a mediator, he took it upon himself in the form of a servant. He learned obedience to the will
of God and he practiced it and laid out himself to advance the
interest of God’s kingdom. So he was God’s servant. That’s the first little glimpse
that we have into the character, the nature of Christ. He was
obedient to the point where He was called par excellence, the
servant. And note what God does on His
behalf. Behold My servant whom I uphold. Isn’t it great to know that God
is for you? Just as we just sang. Isn’t it
great to know that God watches out for you, not just with angels,
but with his own watchful eye that he cares for you? Isn’t
it great to know that God is going to give you everything
that you need? So says Matthew chapter six.
Christ knew that. Christ knew this more than anyone
has ever known. When it says that whom I uphold,
Christ was under more burden, more pressure, more more of God’s
wrath than any person had ever known. Because he had all of
man’s sin laid upon him. And God says, I’m not going to let
him fail. I’m undergirding him. I’m upholding him. I’m assisting
and enabling him to do what I’ve sent him to do. This is my servant. The father bore him up and bore
him out. He upheld him to the end. He
stood by him and strengthened him and he goes on. He calls Him His Chosen One,
which points not so much to this foreknowledge or election. I
mean, it’s not like God had a number of sons to choose from. What
He points to is the choice nature of Christ. To the excellence
of Christ. To the perfect nature of Christ. He was choice and therefore chosen. There was none else that could
take the position But there was none better. In the Hebrew, Matthew has taken
this and interpreted it somewhat. Because in the Hebrew it says,
I will sustain an idea that we’ve already considered. Here we have
the idea of choice or selection or election. Matthew seems to
have almost left out that idea to take in the next words and
to have translated them, whom I have chosen, which was all
said by the prophet. God chose the Lord Jesus Christ
to be our Redeemer and the head of the elect. And in doing so,
he undergirds him and supports him to the end that he would
save his people. Not only that, not only did God
select him out singly as the only one that could ever accomplish
this redemption, it says that God equipped him in an incredible
way. I have put my spirit upon him. Now, after 20 years of ministry
and looking at commentaries and studying deep passages, I still
consider myself to be a novice. And when I come to greater experts
than I who look at this and they give absolutely no explanation
as to how Christ, who is a deity, how he can be attended with the
Spirit of God, how he needs to be attended with the Spirit of
God. And they said nothing. I can tell you this, that it
is upon this not only divine, but human Redeemer that God in
some way, some fashion poured out His Spirit in a remarkable
degree. And not just as so many of God’s
servants, they would get a dose of the Spirit for a particular
mission. God’s Spirit was poured out on Christ forever. One pastor said it this way,
I poured out my spirit upon him, my Holy Spirit, not on him as
a divine person, as such he needed him not, but as man with which
he was filled without measure at his incarnation and which
rested upon him and qualified him for his work as prophet and
priest and king. God equipped him. God enabled him. Look at the final observation
of Christ’s character. Not only was He a humble servant
upheld by God, hand selected by God, bearing fully the Spirit
of God, it says lastly in that great clause, in whom my soul
delights. He was God-pleasing. This is
the nature Christ our Savior. This is the One who came to pay
for our sins. He was God-pleasing. It’s one
thing to please some people. Sometimes you can do that. Not
very often, right? But it’s quite another thing
to be pleasing to God, who is perfect. Isaiah says this way, He is Him
in whom my soul delights. Matthew says it just ever so
subtly, differently. He is Him in whom my soul is
well pleased. God was well pleased with Christ
and He accepted Him as a payment for sin, a propitiation. could have delighted in no created
being the way that He delighted in Jesus Christ, His Son, who
had come down and taken on human flesh. Isaiah here, at this point of
the prophecy, is making the point that God delighted. God took
exceedingly great pleasure in His servant. And as God saw His
Spirit poured out on His servant, and His servant conducting the
work which He had designed him to do, God drew great pleasure
from that. Christ was not only beloved by
the Father, but He was accepted by the Father. And the Father,
it says, was well pleased with His person as the Son of God,
with all of His duties, with all of His effectiveness in working
out our redemption, with the sacrifice that He gave on our
behalf, with His sufferings and death, through the peace and
reconciliation which He wrought because of it. This is the character
of our Savior. This is the one about whom we
sing, not just a baby in a manger. We come to a Savior who is beloved
of God, a servant of God, chosen of God, attended by God’s Spirit,
and well-pleasing. When we come to Christ, we see,
first of all, His relationship with the Father. A perfect, spiritually
prepared servant. There’s a second relationship
that I want you to consider this morning. Not only his relationship
to the father, but his relationship to the repentant. His relationship
to the repentant, and in this we see a humble, merciful shepherd,
you know that. If you’ve come to Christ, you
know that this is Christ. Look at verse two. He will not
cry out or raise his voice, nor make his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he will not break, a dimly burning wick he will
not extinguish.” Matthew’s Gospel again does some
minor interpretation here. When it says that he will not
cry out, Matthew says he will not quarrel. And in a sense,
he interprets that passage for us, as we’ll see in a moment.
Matthew marks the kind of cry as almost a cry of altercation
or complaint. An argument going on in a house
loud enough to be heard in the streets. That’s the nature of
this word. He says that Christ won’t do
it. Interpretationally, you have
the idea of strife or wrangling. And perhaps given the context
of Matthew’s gospel, where Christ is actively engaged in this challenge
by the Pharisees, you have this contrast set up that Christ is
not going to get into this argument. Because if you will consider
the very reason that Matthew says that this passage was fulfilled
was that Christ walked away. He just stepped away from the
argument rather than railing at them, rather than rebuking
them, rather than calling them down in any way. Christ walked
away. And in a sense, proved. His character. Given in this passage. One commentator described it
this way, these words declare the meekness and gentleness and
modesty of our blessed Savior. His meekness that he should not
do his work in any passion or roughness, nor carry on his kingdom
with any strife or violence. You don’t know of that of Christ,
do you? Therefore, when the Pharisees
took counsel against him, he made no opposition, but peaceably
withdrew until the time came when he was to be delivered.
And then as meekly yielded himself up, remember, he even rebuked
Peter. Peter took out a sword and lopped
off the guy’s ear. Christ heals his ear, challenges
Peter. That’s not the nature of my kingdom. Christ was calm. Christ was ready. Christ came for a purpose. Christ
didn’t have to come barging in with some great pomp and announcement.
The shouting here that is mentioned, it’s not that of religious rejoicing. We got to make a joyful noise
earlier. Nor is it the noise of battle.
And there were battle cries that were given. Rather, it’s what could be characterized
as riotous screaming. An argument. A fight. Quarreling. One pastor in sharing or in clarifying
these things said that typically when you think of those who lead
nations, they are mostly forceful characters intent on getting
their own way. Isn’t that true? That’s usually
how they get to office. They tend to quarrel with anyone
who hinders them, so sure that what they are seeking to accomplish
is the right thing for the people they lead. God’s servant. God’s servant wasn’t going to
be that way. He didn’t need heralds or trumpets or grand declarations
to go before him. He came in meekness, born in
a manger, born in almost utter obscurity. The angels indeed
attended him and proclaimed him. But Christ wasn’t going to go
everywhere He went as some earthly king being announced here and
there. As such, when it says that He will
not raise His voice or cry out, He was almost exempt from that
hot spirit that characterizes so many men, doesn’t it? Exempt from the violence of strong
feelings, calm said one in the sereneness of authority, strong
in his far-reaching and pitying sympathy.” If we had seen Christ, you would
have known by His character, by the way that He carried Himself,
that He was different. Even false prophets were known
to rave in their frenetic and wild ways. True prophets often
were stirred to that hot and vehement speech, but it wasn’t
so with Christ. Christ would come without pomp
and splendor, without noises and loud cries, and be born in a manger and His
kingdom would just begin to unfold, wouldn’t it? When it says that His voice would
not be heard in the street in that second clause of verse 2,
we know that Christ’s voice was heard in the street. Don’t take
this overly literally. We know that He was found to
be preaching in many occasions in the Gospels. What this refers
to is that he wasn’t going to be heard in a clamorous, contentious
way. Not in a way designed to draw
attention to himself. Not in a way of boasting, either
in his doctrines or in his miracles. But he behaved with great mercy
and meekness. Christ carried himself in such
a way that he was just objectively different than any who had ever
come before him. He silently put up with all kinds
of abuse. He patiently bore with affronts. He behaved peaceably and quietly
and committed himself and his cause to a righteous God. But there’s a second point woven
into this relationship to the repentant. Look at verse three. When it says that a bruised reed
he will not break and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish,
we come to a passage that, as I said, for 20 years, really
meant very little to me. I really didn’t have a clear
understanding of it or what was being referred to there. All
I assumed that it meant was that Christ was gentle. And we know
him to be gentle. And that much is true. He is
a gentle Savior. But what is the reed? What is
the wick? It is absolutely clear to me
after studying this passage that the point of that little quote
was not to just point out that Jesus was gentle, but to point
to those to whom he’s gentle. To those who are as a bruised
reed. To those who are as a dimly burning
wick. It’s you. And it’s me. You know that day when Christ found you. You were
broken. You were in despair. You were
so burdened with the weight of sin. You saw no way out. I saw it. Same thing. I felt the same way. These images
that are used here, they come from the heart of God. And they’re
so incredibly accurate. A bruised reed. I’ll tell you
about a reed in that day and age. Reeds were plentiful. They grew everywhere and they
were cheap. They used them for a lot of different
things. But the reed that grew by the
millions every marsh and riverside in the country was a It almost
became a type, a byword of something that was commonplace and insignificant. The natural thing, if you were
using a reed as some kind of a tool, was to discard an imperfect
reed, one that was bent or damaged and replace it immediately with
a new one. There was no cost involved. But Christ doesn’t treat the
reed in that way. It almost goes against all reason
when it says that a bruised reed He will not break because the
common thing would to snap it and throw it aside. But the Lord’s
servant doesn’t discard those who can be likened to shattered
reeds, the earth’s broken ones, you and I. A perfect reed is
fragile, and so the imagery here is so accurate. This is one who
is damaged and broken and hurting and just ready to be discarded,
and Christ will not. One characterized it in these
words. He said, this refers to those who from afar, to the weak
and helpless, to those of little faith. What a contrast between
the cruelty of the Pharisees and the kindness of Christ. Between
their vanity and His reserve, their love for display and His
meekness. They plan murder and are callous,
indifferent to the agony of the handicapped. Christ was unwilling. to crush
and to cast off those who are half broken. But on the contrary,
his desire was to lift them up and to bind them up and to support
them and to heal them. What he refers to here is physical
and moral and spiritual failings. It’s our sin. We are the broken
and bruised reed. It says that Christ is going
to come He is going to be the kind of Savior that stoops down
and picks up this bruised, tender reed and binds it up and cares
for it as a merciful Savior. John Gill, one of my favorite
Spurgeon’s predecessor in the pulpit, said it this way, the
tenderness of Christ to weak and ignorant persons is here
and in the next clause expressed by whom young converts or weak
believers seem to be designed, who are compared to a reed because
worthless with respect to God, whom they cannot profit. And
in the view of men who reckon them as nothing, and in themselves
and in their own view who judge themselves unworthy of the least
mercies.” I mean, it’s you and I, people. It’s you and I. And because they
are weak, not only as all men are of which weakness they are
sensible, but they are weak in grace, especially in faith. They
have little hope. Their love is the strongest.
And because they are wavering like the reed tossed to and fro
with every wind of doctrine, shaken with the temptations of
Satan, disturbed with many doubts and fears, they are like a bruised
reed that is squeezed and almost broken to pieces of no use. Was that not you? You know it
was. You know it was. They are broken
in heart. They’re under a sense of sin
and unworthiness whose spirits are bruised and wounded, whose
hearts are contrite on account of it. On these, Christ does
not lay his iron rod that holds out the golden scepter of grace
to them. He does not call them to service
in sufferings beyond their strength, but strengthens them, supports
them, and upholds them with the right hand of His righteousness.
He binds up their broken hearts. Having poured out the balm of
Gilead, His own blood, the wine and oil of His love, He encourages
them in the application to salvation and He manifests to them His
pardoning grace.” It was you, wasn’t it? You were the bruised
reed. And what of this image, the dimly
burning wick? It’s similar. That’s you as well,
isn’t it? That’s me. You have this image
of a candle that has just gone out. The glow is gone. All that you have is a waft of
smoke headed heavenward. And it says that a dimly burning
wick he will not extinguish. I mean, that’s how close we were,
wasn’t it? We were spiritually dead. We were already headed
for hell. We were hopeless, so say the
Scriptures, without God, without hope. We were a waft of smoke
headed to heaven. Only we weren’t headed to heaven. And it says that He will not
extinguish. Easiest thing in the world to
put out a candle is just to reach out. You don’t even need to wet
your fingers, do you? At that point, you just reach and snuff
it out and it’s out. One records that a wick that
functioned imperfectly was a nuisance in a household, isn’t it? It
produces smoke, that acrid, nasty black smoke. It wouldn’t give
out good light. Its smoldering released a certain
amount of smoke. Replacing it was the normal procedure. Here again, the normal procedure
would be to get rid of this dimly burning wick, to rekindle a new
one and have the light that was intended to provide. And most of us, don’t we? Most of us regard the world’s
down and outs, that’s what we call them. is not worth troubling
over. We don’t see how anything good
can be made of them, but not Christ. Christ showed love and care and
profound sympathy to you and I. As a bruised reed, as a dimly
burning wick, there’s a third relationship to consider this
morning that points us to the character of Christ. His relationship
to the father points to the fact that he is a perfect, spiritually
prepared servant. His relationship to the repentant
points to the fact that he is a humble, merciful shepherd. His relationship to the world
points to the fact that he is a faithful, perseverant savior. Look at the end of verse three.
He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened
or crushed until he has established justice in the earth and the
coastlands will wait expectantly for his law. Here, Matthew’s
interpretation is absolutely crucial. Matthew simply says
he leads justice to victory and in his name, the Gentiles will
hope. Christ became the hope. for all
those outside of Israel. It became the hope for you and
I. First of all, it says He will faithfully bring forth justice.
He’s never going to cease. He is not going to fail. So far
through the thousands of years, He has been true to His Word.
He’s done everything that He said He would and He will. And
He will bring salvation. He will not be disheartened or
crushed until he has established justice on the earth. Christ
didn’t give up on the cross and he will not give up on this plan
of redemption. And therefore, it says the coastlands
will wait expectantly for his law or Matthew. In his name,
the Gentiles will hope. The horizons were widespread
in God’s plan of redemption. The Gentile hope here is not
just wishful thinking. When they look upon Christ, they
look with earnest expectation as you and I. We look for a Savior. We placed our faith in a Savior.
We don’t doubt. We don’t have any doubt. The
God. Will bring about redemption and
salvation. Through Jesus Christ, our Savior,
when he says the word wait here, he means that those who look
to Christ will eagerly embrace the gospel that is offered them.
There will come a day when those eagerly embrace the good news
of the Messiah announced here in Isaiah’s 42nd chapter. As soon as they hear the voice
of the gospel, they embrace it with the utmost eagerness. And
although they formerly wandered like scattered and lost sheep,
yet they hear immediately the voice of the shepherd and they
cheerfully submit to him as Christ himself also has spoken. And I ask you this morning, this
Christmas morning, is that what you know of the Savior? Is that the character of the
Savior that you know? Do you know Him to be a perfect
and spiritually prepared servant of God, whom God delighted in
by accepting His sacrifice? Do you know Him to be a humble,
merciful shepherd that bears with your sins and that comes
to you, who died for you while you were yet a sinner? And do you know that He is faithful
and perseverant? He will not fail. He will not
fail. This is our Savior. This is the
one in whom we hope and in whom we rejoice. Let’s pray. Lord God, we thank You for this
passage. We thank You for the clarification
that Matthew provided for us that it is Christ. We thank you
for the relationships that we see woven throughout this passage
with the Father, with the repentant, with the world. Lord, we thank
you for the character of Christ that we see. He is indeed our humble Savior,
your servant. Lord, we ask your blessing on
our day, on this season, that our focus would be fully upon
Christ. He would be glorified in our
hearts and lives as the one whom you sent. Lord, for those of
us who have come to know salvation, we know how mercifully Christ
has dealt with us. Grant us the grace to proclaim
Christ In Jesus’ name, amen.