Series: Isaiah Series
Title: Because of the LORD that is Faithful
Text: Isaiah 49: 7-12
Date: November 4 , 2012
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
The salvation of every believer is sure. Our assurance is found in two phrases in our
text today. One is in verse 7, “because of the LORD that is faithful.” The
other in verse 8: God says I will “give
thee [Christ] for a covenant of the
people.”
The assurance of the child
of God is the infinitely unalterable faithfulness of our triune God in Christ.
Before God made anything
that is made, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit entered into
a covenant of grace and peace to save an elect multitude in a way which
glorifies the triune God.
That Way is Christ. The Son of God agreed to become Jehovah’s Incarnate
Servant, as a Man to live as the Representative and die as the Substitute of
the elect children given to Christ.
The promises the three
persons in the Godhead made to Christ as our covenant Surety are the promises
God has and continues to fulfill to his people. These promises are the focus of
our text.
Proposition: In
this message I want you to see the faithfulness of our covenant triune God to
save his elect by beholding God fulfilling all his covenant promises to Christ. We see 5 promises in our text.
I. GOD PROMISED TO EXALT CHRIST ABOVE ALL
Remember: the Lord Jesus
Christ is God the Son, the self-sufficient Creator and Upholder of all
things. Christ as God the Son needed
nothing, he is God. But he became God’s servant. Christ came to glorify the LORD Jehovah, obeying
God as he finished working all that is required of his people to make the elect
of God the righteousness of God in him.
As he did the three persons of the Godhead faithfully upheld Christ in his
manhood.
Isaiah 49: 7: Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his
Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a
servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship,
because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall
choose thee.
All three persons in the
Godhead fulfill these promises to Christ. God the Father-Thus saith the LORD; God the Son—the Redeemer of Israel; God the Holy Spirit—and his Holy One.
Christ is the one spoken to—to him whom man despiseth. Men despise Christ because God chose Christ
and Christ alone must work the works of saving his people because no sinner can
save himself.
To him whom the nation abhorreth—there
are only two nations in God’s sight.
God’s “holy nation” of God’s elect and the nation of ungodly
rebels. The nation of Israel and the nation of Rome
were one nation, crying, “Crucify him, Crucify him!”
To a servant of rulers—the King of Kings became “a
servant to rulers”. He obeyed the law
under Jewish rulers; he paid taxes to Caesar, a Gentile Ruler; he submitted to
be scourged by the order of Pilot. All
of this our Savior voluntarily submitted to.
He was abased that he might exalt us.
2 Co
8:9: For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
As he did all this, Christ trusted
God to exalt him as God promised and God did as he promised—Kings shall see and arise, princes also
shall worship,…
1Co
1:26: For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
It says not many but it
doesn’t say “not any”. God the Spirit is
able to humble the proudest rebel and make Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
to whom he will.
The LORD God fulfilled his
promise to glorify his faithfulness--because
of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel. God is faithful. Our hope
of eternal life depends upon the faithfulness of God who cannot lie!
1 Thessalonians
5:24: Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
The Lord God promised to
make it evident that he had chosen Christ to be the Savior and Redeemer of his
people—and he shall choose thee. He has made it evident.
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.
Listen to Paul teach us then
what to do with this good news.
Philippians
2: 12: Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. 13 For it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14: Do all
things without murmurings and disputings: 15; That ye may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and
perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may
rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in
vain.
Illust. The
call looking to stir up one of my brethren
Application: When men try to stir you up against
government, pointing out corruption and injustice of proud rulers and rich men—pay
it no attention. Christ trusted the promise of the Father, now you, believer,
trust Christ the King of kings.
Romans
13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are
ordained of God.
Do you see our God’s faithfulness
to Christ in this first promise. Then know he will be faithful to us he has
called. He raised Christ our King. He rules.
He will exalt us in his time.
1 Peter 5: 5:…be clothed with humility: for God
resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6: Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7:
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
II. THE LORD GOD PROMISED TO HEAR CHRIST AND DID
Isaiah 49: 8 Thus saith the
LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee,…
In an acceptable time means
in the time pleasing, acceptable to God.
Christ trusted the Father in perfect obedience, prayed for the Father’s
will to be done in his time as he wlked this earth. In garden of Gethsemane
Matthew
26: 39: O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless
not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Christ was heard because he
reverenced the faithful LORD GOD.
Hebrews
5: 7: Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and
supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him
from death, and was heard in that he feared;
“In that he feared” means His
prayer was in faith—it was two-fold: for
God to glorify his name
John
12: 27: Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from
this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a
voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
And for his people
John
17: 24: Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou
lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Application: He was heard as God promised and he is
heard now. Believer, we have access to Christ’s
throne of grace. Our security in this
world, and in the world to come, is by Christ’s intercession for us!
Hebrews
7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them….9:24 For Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of
the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
III. THE LORD GOD PROMISED TO HELP CHRIST AND DID.
Isaiah 49: 8…and in a day of salvation have I helped thee:
Remember, God the Son needed no help. But as a Man,
he was sustained in all his work by God as promised. We see it plainest at the
cross. The Faithful One trusted God,
saying,
Psalm 16: 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Isaiah 50: 6: 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. 7; 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; 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.
At the accepted time,
when Christ satisfied justice as Substitute of his people, God helped him. It was the
day of salvation, when the triune God raised Jesus of Nazareth from the
grave and raised all his ransomed church in him, perfected forever.
App: He says to those he regenerated by the Spirit:
Isaiah 50:10: 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.
Psalm
2: 4: I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy
hill. Selah. 5 I laid me down and slept;
I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.
Paul said, today is the day of salvation, don’t
hear this word of grace in vain, believe on Christ now.
2
Corinthians 5: 20: Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 6: 1: We
then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the
grace of God in vain. 2: (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted,
and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted
time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Seeing the faith of God in
Christ, seeing the righteousness of God manifest, believe on him, be ye reconciled
to God.
IV. THE LORD GOD PROMISED TO PRESERVE CHRIST, HE DID AND
DOES.
Isaiah 49: 8…and
I will preserve thee,…
God preserved Christ from
his enemies from womb to the tomb, from death by his resurrection, and now upon
his throne
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.
Application: Brethren, Christ’s redeemed make up his
body. Each shall be preserved in Christ
and for Christ’s sake. Through our days
of rebellion till God calls them to faith in Christ, after our calling all our
lives, through death and judgment. Our
assurance all of these promises fulfilled by God in Christ. But even more—Christ himself!
V. THE LORD GOD PROMISED TO
GIVE CHRIST FOR A COVENANT
Isaiah 49: 8…and give thee for a covenant of the people,…
Christ is the covenant not of
all people, but of THE people. Those
chosen unto salvation and redeemed by his blood. Christ is the Covenant given to each one born
of the Spirit of God. Christ our
Covenant is the Yea and Amen of all these sure and certain promises. Christ himself is the Covenant, the Law
written on the new heart is Christ the Covenant formed in you. When the Lord God gives you his Son, he gives
you everything with his Son (Eph. 1:3; Rom. 8: 32).
Christ is our Covenant King
guarantees his people our inheritance in righteousness—V8: to establish the earth,
to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.
We were desolated by our sin.
Christ establishes his people in righteousness, assuring us we shall inherit
all spiritual blessings, by whom we have an inheritance reserved in heaven for
us.
Christ is our Covenant of
Redemption who frees us from the prison of sin and death--V9: That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are
in darkness, Shew yourselves. Who is
the only one who can make a sinner come to Christ in faith? John 3:20: For every one
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. The only one who
can is Christ our Covenant Liberator--That
thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in
darkness, Shew yourselves. Then…John
3: 21: But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made
manifest, that they are wrought in
God.
Christ is our Covenant
Shepherd guaranteeing us his full provision through this life--V9:…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. 11: And
I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
Christ is the Covenant
Savior guaranteeing none of God’s elect shall be lost.--v12: Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north
and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. [of thorns]
THE ONE THING I WANT EACH BELIEVER HERE TO SEE IS:
Because of the LORD that is
faithful, because he has given us Christ our Covenant—our present and future
glorification in and with Christ is as certain and eternal as the oath of our
triune God to Christ and as certain as the Christ’s accomplishment of his
promises for us.
He exalted Christ and us
with him
He hears Christ and us by
Christ
He preserved Christ and us
in Christ
He helped Christ and does
all for us by Christ
He gave Christ for our
Covenant and in Christ all the promises of God are yes and amen to the praise
of the glory of his grace.
Isaiah 49: 13: Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break
forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and
will have mercy upon his afflicted.
Amen!