Series: Isaiah
Title: Taught by the Prophet
Text: Isaiah 50: 1-11
Date: January 24, 2013
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Our
scripture is Isaiah 50: 1-11. Let’s read it together.
Proposition: This is Christ the Prophet describing us and describing himself
and teaching us to follow him in the way he followed the Father.
Remember
back in Isaiah 49: 14: But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord
hath forgotten me. This was while as yet
she was surrounded by Babylon. She
blamed the LORD saying, “The LORD hath forsaken me. The LORD is to blame for me being in this
bondage.”
I. OUR SEPARATION FROM THE LORD IS OUR OWN
FAULT, NOT THE LORD’S
Isaiah 50: 1. Thus saith the LORD, Where is
the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away?
The law
said that when a man divorced his wife, he was required to give her a piece of
paper stating that he had officially divorced her and for what reason. The LORD says, “Can you produce such a paper? It is not I that am to blame for you being in
bondage, for you being put away.”
Isaiah 50: 1:…or which of my creditors is
it to whom I have sold you?
When a
man was in debt and could not pay his bills, he could sell his children into
servitude to his creditors to work off his debt. The LORD God owes no man anything. He has no creditors. So why had his people
come into bondage?
Isaiah 50: 1:…Behold, for your iniquities
have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
Folks
will be walking directly contrary to the revealed will of God in this
book. When they become separated or come
into some kind of bondage or affliction,
they will say, “God is sovereign, it is his will that I am where I am.” That is exactly what Zion was saying.
God is
sovereign. God did put them there. But God
does not randomly forsake anyone. Our
sins separate us from God.
Isaiah 59: 1: Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened,
that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2: But your
iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his
face from you, that he will not hear.
God did
not forsake Adam, Adam first forsook God therefore Adam and his race were
separated because of our sin. In the
days of Isaiah, God did not forsake Israel, he sent his prophets with the truth,
but Israel would not hearken, Israel first forsook God therefore became
separated into slavery in Babylon. In
the days when our Lord Jesus came the first time, God had not forsaken Israel,
Israel first forsook God therefore they were separated under slavery to Rome.
Illustration: Emma and Will—“Will what happened?”—9 out of 10 times he begins
“Emma” or “Emma what happened?”—9 out of 10 times she begins “Will…”
Where’d
we get that? Where do we get this nature
to want to blame others? What would make a man use God’s sovereignty to excuse
our iniquity and our transgressions?
Genesis 3: 11: And [the LORD] said, [Adam] Who told thee
that thou wast naked? Hast THOU eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded THEE
that THOU shouldest not eat? 12: And the man said, The WOMAN whom THOU gavest
to be with me, SHE gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
God’s
grace makes his child cease playing the blame-game when God speaks to our heart
and says, “Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your
transgressions is your mother put away.” That is when we will confess to God
that we have not obeyed him.
II. OUR NOT BELIEVING ON CHRIST, UNITING WITH
HIS PEOPLE IN THE CAUSE OF HIS GOSPEL, IS NOT CHRIST’S FAULT, BUT OUR OWN
Isaiah 50: 2: Wherefore, when I came, was
there no man? when I called, was there none to answer?
God
came into the world. God the Son, Jesus
Christ, the Word, came unto his own. And
he called. But no man answered his call of themselves.
John 1: 10 He was
in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own
received him not.
They
had his word which described his coming, how he would come. They claimed to believe on him—didn’t
they? Sure they did, they claimed to believe
God and Christ is God. But then when they saw him, they knew him not. When he called, when they heard him preach
the gospel, when they heard others preach the gospel, then none answered.
Why is
it that men will read the scriptures, read the writings of faithful men from
the past, claim they believe, claim they are waiting for the Lord to bring the
gospel near to them, then when he does they either do not recognize it or they
question and question and question or when finally they have opportunity to
join themselves with his saint they won’t answer the call? They won’t unite themselves, they are not
willing to suffer for his name’s sake, not willing to get themselves under any
commitment whatsoever when they have opportunity to do so. Why is that? You see that word at beginning of verse
2--“wherefore.” It refers back to verse
1, “for your iniquities”…“for your transgressions.” “Wherefore, when I came, was there no
man? when I called, was there none to answer?
John 3: 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.
Here is
why they would not believe him and join with his people. It was because their darkness, their evil
deeds, was their religious darkness, their righteousnesses. Here is why they rejected Christ. Here is why men reject the gospel. Here is why men reject the clear teaching of
the scriptures. Though they had the word
of God, though they claimed to believe God, they rejected Christ and rejected
his gospel because they thought they had saved themselves without God. They
thought they were saved another way. Why
did they need Christ or his apostles or his preachers or his people when they
thought they had saved themselves? They
were coming to God another way so why did they need THE WAY and the means he
ordained which pleased him? Every
religious man, in the scriptures, that rejected Christ when he walked this
earth, rejected him because they thought they were saved and that they were
saved some other way other than Christ or his ordained means.
III. BUT OUR SIN AND UNBELIEF DOES NOT HINDER
CHRIST FROM REGENERATING AND CALLING HIS OWN TO FAITH IN HIM.
Isaiah 50: 2…Is my hand shortened at all,
that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?
Romans 3: 3: For what if some did not believe? shall
their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? 4: God forbid: yea, let
God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be
justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
Isaiah 50: 2…Is my hand shortened at all,
that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?
Some
might argue, “If they’re God’s elect he can save them whether they ever believe
in this life or not.” No. If they are
Christ’s then Christ will cross their path with the gospel and quicken them to
newness of life and they shall believe.
Romans 8: 29: For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren. 30: Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he
also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified,
them he also glorified.
Here is
the reason some of the Jews did not believe.
Romans 9: 6: Not as though the word of God hath taken
none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:…
Since
our sins have separated us from our God this is why not all Gentiles call on
him.
Romans 9: 15: For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion. 16: So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that sheweth mercy.
Do you
know who we are talking about? We are talking
about our sovereign Savior! We are
talking about God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!
Isaiah 50: 2…behold, at my rebuke I dry up
the sea,…
He made
this whole world a sea in Noah’s day, then at his word he dried it up. He
dried up the Red Sea and led Moses and Israel across then drown Pharaoh and his
army in it.
Isaiah 50: 2:…I make the rivers a wilderness:
their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
He
turned the Nile River in Egypt and all their waters into blood. He dried up the
Jordan so the people went across on dry ground.
Isaiah 50: 3: I clothe the heavens with
blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
Exodus 10: 21: And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out
thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt,
even darkness which may be felt. 22 And
Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in
all the land of Egypt three days: 23
They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three
days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
Isaiah 46:9: Remember the
former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I
am God, and there is none like me, 10: Declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that
executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will
also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
IV. HE CALLS HIS OWN BECAUSE THE GLORY IN
BRINGING HIS REDEEMED TO BELIEVE THE GOSPEL GOES TO THE PROPHET, CHRIST JESUS.
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:…
That is
spoken of Christ. Christ has the tongue of the learned. Next is what he does to his people who are
weary. Christ did waken morning by morning, he was eager to serve the Father
when he walked this earth. But Christ
also does this next thing for his people through the gospel.
Isaiah 50: 4:…he wakeneth morning by morning,
he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
Christ
wakens his people morning by morning with his tongue by his gospel, by his
tongue of the learned. It is Christ who
receives the glory for calling his people through the gospel. Christ wakeneth
the ear of his people to hear as the learned through the preaching of the gospel.
This is very important to get: his glory, his
glory now in the ascension glory of our Redeemer is to be Head of his church,
that he might fill all in all. He is King,
High Priest and as it says here, Christ is the Prophet, the Preacher, the
Shepherd over all his under-shepherds.
Luke 4:18: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;…to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised, 19: To preach the acceptable year of the
Lord.
This is
the acceptable year of the Lord—the day of grace—the gospel age—“After that in the wisdom of God the world
by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe.” (1 Cor 1: 21)
Hebrews 1:1: God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, 2 Hath
in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 2: 3: How shall we escape, if we neglect so great
salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed
unto us by them that heard him;
2 Timothy 2: 2: And the things that thou hast heard of me
among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able
to teach others also.
John 17:20: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word;…
He told his ambassadors, when they drag you before the
synagogues, prisons, kings and rulers for my sake: Luke 21: 15: I will give you
a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor
resist.
There now,
at the right hand of the Father, in glorified human nature, all power in heaven
and earth is given to Christ the Prophet to fill all in all. That is why he said, “Go forth and preach, and
lo I be with you always.” He sends his
apostles and pastors and teachers and he draws his people to hear. He quickens
his own by the Holy Spirit. He ministers
to his people thereby. Because it
pleased God to do so to stain vain man’s pride!
Ephesians 4: 8
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men.
That is
what Christ declared he did in Isaiah 49 when he asked, “Shall the lawful
captive be delivered?” And said, “Yes, I the LORD shall do it.” Isaiah chapter 49 tells us how he did
it. He is about to speak of it again in
our text. He led captivity captive and
after he did he gave gifts unto men.
Ephesians 4: 11
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up
into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined
together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the
effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body
unto the edifying of itself in love.
IN THE
NEW TESTAMENT, SINCE THE PROPHET HAS POURED OUT HIS SPIRIT ON THE DAY OF
PENTECOST, FROM THAT DAY ON, EVERY SINNER SAVED IS SHOWN TO HAVE BEEN SAVED BY
HIM SENDING SOMEONE TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THEM. The apostle Paul is the only
exception but he was an apostle called directly by Christ. But the Lord even sent Ananias to Paul.
For
some reason men always want to talk about their experience of grace. If that is the case with you, we will have to
take your experience and lay it beside the book. If it is not found in the book to be the
manner in which God saves in these last days then we will have to keep the book
and discard your experience. Take all
the preachers and the multitudes who say they were called in some other way and
lay them down by the book. If their
calling does not match the book then we have to throw the experiences of all the
preachers and the multitudes away and keep the word of God. Now, this is the day we live in, so I want to
know how is God pleased to save his people, don’t you? “After that in the
wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe.” (1 Cor 1: 21)
Why? “That no flesh should glory in his presence.”
The only time Christ’s Presence comes in
preaching is in the preaching Christ has sent which gives him all the glory—by
that preaching, no flesh glories in his presence. Let’s see that. What does Christ our Prophet do as the gospel
is being preached? Peter is preaching
and Peter tells what Christ does through the preaching of the gospel.
Acts 3: 18: But those things, which God before had shewed
by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so
fulfilled. 19: Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, WHEN THE TIMES OF REFRESHING shall come FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE
LORD; 20: And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: [the
time of refreshing, regenerating, washing comes from the presence of the Lord now
when through the gospel God sends Jesus Christ the Prophet making men repent
and be converted and bring us to see Christ has blotted out our sins] 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times
of restitution of all things, [till all his people be called—till we all come
unto the fullness of the stature of Christ—till his whole body be called out as
we just read in Ephesians 4. Restitution of his elect means we were robbed in
sin but Christ shall make full restitution to us by him giving each of his
redeemed the riches of his gospel and grace making us complete in him.] which
God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. [Isaiah
being one of those prophets in our text] 22
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A PROPHET SHALL THE LORD YOUR GOD
RAISE UP, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say
unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass,
that every soul, which will not hear THAT PROPHET, shall be destroyed from
among the people. 24 Yea, and all the
prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have
likewise foretold of THESE DAYS. 25 Ye
are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our
fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the
earth be blessed. 26 Unto you first God,
having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, [God having raised Christ
up from the dead sent Christ to bless them right then and there as Peter stood
lifting up his voice together with the Voice of Christ Jesus, as Christ the
Prophet preached Peter] in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. [the
iniquities of trying to come to the Father in other ways] 4: 1: And as they
spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the
Sadducees, came upon them, 2 Being
grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the
resurrection from the dead. 3: And they laid hands on them, and put them in
hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. [these were those who were walking
in sparks they had kindled, they believed they were saved another way so they
were grieved that Peter taught the resurrected Prophet Jesus Christ and the
work he performs through his gospel] 4
Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of
the men was about five thousand.
Are you
weary of Satan’s assaults?—Christ the Prophet knows how to minister to
you. Are you weary of slander and
backbiting?—Christ the Prophet knows how to minister to you. Are you weary from
the death of a loved one?—Christ the Prophet knows how to minister to you. Are
you weary from being persecuted by your own family and loved ones?—Christ the
Prophet knows how to minister to you. Are you weary from being betrayed by a
friend?—Christ the Prophet knows how to minister to you. Are you weary of your
sin?—Christ the Prophet bore the sins of his people and put them away, he knows
how to minister to you. Are you weary as death approaches?—Christ the Prophet
knows how to minister, he has been there too. Christ the Prophet “knows how to
speak a word in season to him that is weary:” because he has been
touched with the feelings of all our weariness.
V. HAS HE OPENED YOUR EAR THROUGH THIS
WORD? NEXT, CHRIST SHOWS US BY EXAMPLE
WHAT HE DID WHEN THE LORD GOD OPENED HIS EAR. LET’S HEAR HIM AND FOLLOW HIM.
Isaiah 50: 5: The Lord GOD hath opened mine
ear,…Like the willing bond servant—he came down to
serve for his people—will you come down at his word and serve for his people?
Isaiah 50: 5:…and I was not rebellious,
neither turned away back…he was faithful to
him that called him. Will you be rebellious? Will you turn away your back?
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…He was sent to bear the cross, to suffer for God to declare God
just and the Justifer and to bear the sin of his brethren, to bring all his
elect to God. Now, he calls us to take
up our cross and follow him, it will mean suffering, but will you suffer with
him?
Isaiah 50: 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. Christ trusted the
Father to justify him after he had been made sin for his people therefore he
was resolute setting his face like a flint.
And three days after his death he was justified in the Spirit. He was raised from the dead and all his
people were justified in him. NOW, will
you trust him that he has justified you? Will you trust that he has put your
sin away? That he will protect you as you confess him and bear witness of his
name in this earth?
Everything
the Father did for Christ as he trusted the Father while he bore the sins of
his people and satisfied justice, Christ is now doing for all those he calls to
trust him and go forth glorifying his name before men as we spread forth his
gospel.
Romans 8: 31: What shall we then say to these things? If
God be for us, who can be against us? 32
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how
shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 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. 35 Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As
it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, 39 Nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
LASTLY, HERE IS CHRIST’S APPLICATION: HE
SPEAKS TO TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE.
To
those whose ear he has opened by this gospel, Christ our Prophet says, 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.
To
those who think they have saved themselves, Christ our Prophet says, 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.
Everyone
under the sound of my voice falls into one of those two categories. Those who say they see apart from being
called by Christ the Prophet through his gospel will go on in the sparks they
have kindled. The Pharisee’s said to him
one day, “Are we blind also?” He said,
“If you would say you were blind you would have no sin, but now you say you see
so your sin remains.” But those who
confess they are blind, in darkness, to whom Christ the Prophet has taught,
will hearken to the voice of his servant preaching this gospel now, and trust the
name of the Lord and stay on their God.
Now
hearken! Trust in the name of the Lord
and stay upon your God. I pray that God,
Christ the Prophet, give you grace to believe on him.
Amen!