Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell.
Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Through His Word, the Bible, God has clearly revealed Himself to us in vivid detail. And through Christ's sacrifice on the cross, our compassionate Creator has made a way for us to be drawn into caring community with Him. Today's message from Isaiah 42 shines light on who our God is, and what a beautiful plan He has laid out for the children of men.
Let's listen in. And once again, if you would have your copy of the Scriptures open to Isaiah chapter 42 for our exposition today. Message series entitled, Behold Your God. God reveals Himself to us in His Word, and we must know God according to how He has made Himself known. And so He will manifest Himself to us yet again in the Scriptures this morning. I ask that you would join me in standing together in honor of the Lord and His Word as we seek His aid to hear and heed His Word. Our God and Father, eternal Creator, we thank You that You have made Yourself known to us. We thank You for the privilege that is ours to fellowship with each other as we commune with You, knowing that we have a Word from God. And Father, as we open Your Word this morning, Lord, I pray that You would manifest Yourself to us clearly, that You would open our hearts and our minds, that we would understand You according to how You have made Yourself known. Father, grant us joy and confidence in Your Word this morning, as we understand Your greatness and Your uniqueness, and rescue us, Father, from anything else that we would put our trust in, besides You. For You alone are worthy of our trust. And may we recognize You as that this morning, Father. So open our hearts and our minds and teach us from Your Word through the power of Your Spirit. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please be seated. There's one clear message that I believe we get from Isaiah's 42nd chapter, and it is this. God is the greatest and most important reality. He is the greatest reality, and He is the most important reality. Now, why is that so significant? Because you and I are born with a problem, and that problem is this. We think we are. This is the most important reality. Now, why is that so significant?
Because you and I are born with a problem, and that problem is this. We think we are the greatest and most important reality, and that's not true. God is the greatest and most important reality. In submission to His authority, we find our freedom. In submission to His authority, we find our freedom. And this is what God is teaching the people of Judah, the people of Israel, in the 42nd chapter of Isaiah. You remember, Isaiah was written about 700 B.C., and the context is this. It's a long time before Judah is going to be taken captive by Babylon. They're taken captive, first of all, like 605 B.C., right?
So it's just short of 200 years away, but Isaiah, the Lord is prophesying this through the prophet Isaiah, through the agency of the prophet Isaiah. He says, you're going to be taken captive by Babylon. See, Babylon wasn't even the ruling empire then. At this time, it was Assyria. Israel, the northern tribes of Israel, they'd already been taken captive by Assyria.
They'd been scattered. But God says to Judah, you're going to be taken captive by Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is going to come, and then 70 years later, a king by the name of Cyrus of the Medo-Persian empire, and they're like, who is that? But Cyrus is going to bring you back into the land, and God was telling them all this was going to happen in a lot of time ahead. So in this context, God is telling the people Israel, what is happening is what I am orchestrating.
I need to be your object of trust, not anything else, not anyone else. And what we learn from this is that God is the greatest and most important reality. In submission to him, we find our freedom. In submission to him, we find our freedom.
Hang on to that, because it becomes very clear in this passage today. Speaking of clarity, how do we need to know God? What kind of God is this that we worship and serve? Who is this God, and what is he like?
First of all, number one, he is a very clear communicator. What is the first word of chapter 42? What is it? Behold. Behold. It is the same word as in chapter 41 verse 29, the last verse of the previous chapter. Verse 29, the first word there in the New King James is indeed. But here he says, Behold, my servant whom I uphold. Behold, my servant.
Here's the point. God has communicated to us in person, specifically in his son. Now, he's contrasting in the last verse of the previous chapter. What does he say?
Indeed, they are all worthless. What is he referring to? Man-made gods created things that we might choose to put our trust in. Things that we can see, things that we can manipulate are objects of trust that we create. What does he say?
Indeed or behold, they are all worthless. But in contrast to that, he says, Behold, my servant whom I uphold. He didn't just send a message. He sent his son in person to speak to us. This God, Jehovah, Yahweh, the God of Israel, the creator of the ends of the earth, the creator of the universe, is a clear communicator. Look over at verse 9, what he says.
Behold, the former things have come to pass and new things I declare before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Why does he say that? Because everything that is and never has been and never will be, God knows it all right here, right now. He's the orchestrator of it. And he says, this is what's going to happen. And then he brings it to pass. That's who God is.
Because he is a sovereign creator. And he says, I'm going to tell you about them, and then I'm going to bring them to pass. So you and I, looking back at Isaiah chapter 42, in verse 9, he's telling them of things that are going to happen.
When you and I look at it, we look back at it. Because God is a clear communicator. He has told us what was going to happen.
And indeed, it has happened in exactly the way that he said it would. British philosopher Bertrand Russell, this is his reply when he was asked what he would say if he died and found himself confronted with God, confronted by God, and God demanding to know from him why he did not believe in God. Bertrand Russell's response is this, not enough evidence, God, not enough evidence. He does not believe the things that have already been revealed, the things that have already been made clear.
And that is what is so common. When those who do not believe what God has already made so clearly known in history, in person, in word, through prophecy, just like the Lord tells us in Luke 16, the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. And the rich man dies and he goes and he's in torment. And he says, Father Abraham, send back somebody to talk to my brothers. And he says, they have Moses and the prophets. He says, no, but if somebody goes back from the dead, and he says, if they don't believe Moses and the prophets, then they will not believe even if somebody comes back from the dead.
How many times did it happen in scripture when clear, undeniable miracles happened and people were there to watch them, to see them, to witness them, and yet they were there to believe, and yet they would not believe. Why is that? Because they have different agendas.
That's why. God has made himself clear. What are we doing with what he has revealed? And that's why he says here in Isaiah 42, behold my servant. That servant is the one that John speaks of in 1 John 1. That which we have seen, which we have heard, which we have looked upon, which our hands have handled and we are learning the word of life. That is the servant that God says, behold my servant. God has made himself clear because God is a clear communicator.
Let me put this another way. When God speaks, God doesn't ever try to say something. You know, you hear some people open up the word of life. What is God trying to tell us here? Wait, wait, wait.
No, no, no. God's not trying to say anything. Okay? God has spoken. Do you understand?
Okay? Because our God is a clear communicator and he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him and those who think that God is too obscure and he doesn't show himself enough and if he just would, they would believe. First of all, it is shown that that's not true because those to whom God revealed himself unmistakably with absolute clarity, they took him for granted. Secondly, the truth is that God has revealed himself and if you would but believe, then he will manifest himself to you more. Second point about God in this, we got all that just from one word in Isaiah chapter 42, behold, right? Okay, how long is it going to take us to get through this chapter, right? Never mind.
We're not going to do that and we're going to go more than just one word at a time, okay? The next point comes from the first four verses. First of all, God is a clear communicator. Secondly, God is a caring community. God is a caring community. Now, I'm not meaning by that some ethereal concept that, oh, if you find yourself in a company of people and there's great joy and fellowship and love there, yeah, that's a sense of God. No, no, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about God in person is community.
What do I mean by that? This is the doctrine of the Trinity and God reveals himself to us as a triune being. One God, three persons.
Look what it says here. Behold, my servant whom I uphold, in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit upon him. You have three persons there, don't you? You have I, my servant and my spirit. That's the triune God. God is a caring community because in Matthew chapter 12 verses 17 to 21, this passage of scripture is quoted Isaiah 42 one to four. It is quoted and it is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him, the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
