Isaiah 50 - Mighty to Save

Thus says the Lord: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away. 2 Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their covering.” 4 The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. 5 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. 6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. 7 But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. 10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.

Sermon Text:

Let’s open our Bibles this morning to Isaiah 50. I will read the 11 verses in this chapter, and I invite you to follow along:

[READ ISAIAH 50]

Faith isn’t easy.

I don’t think that will come as a surprise to anyone here, whether you have been a believer in Christ for years or whether you have not yet been converted by His love and power.

Faith, at its core, is trusting someone.

True faith, at its core, is trusting God through Jesus Christ with your entire life.

Because the power of faith is not how much you trust, or how hard you trust, but WHO you trust.

For instance – it doesn’t matter how much I psych myself up to trust that my 3-year-old granddaughter can lift me over her head.

She is not now, and may never be, able to do that thing.

So who we trust is the critical piece.

How many people have “faith” in the god of Islam, or the god of the Mormons, or the thousands of gods of the Hindus?

There is no amount of believing that will make them real or capable of doing anything about your life.

But God, the God of the Bible, the Creator of the universe and all it contains – He is worthy of your faith and mine.

And we come to know Him and His truth in one place – His revealed words through the Scriptures.

Yes, all people everywhere may see His creation and know the Creator lives,

But without the Scriptures, He is just “the Unknown God” – someone we know is there, but could know nothing about.

We know God because He reveals Himself to us.

We can’t find Him through scientific experiment;

Our logic will always fail to understand Him;

He cannot be summoned or controlled by His creatures.

We only know ABOUT Him, we only know HIM, because He has been pleased to graciously reveal Himself to us.

But even that is not a complete picture of God.

How could it be?

It is a finite book, and He is an infinite Creator.

It is a book bounded by language, and God created all languages.

It contains everything we NEED for life and godliness, but not everything we would like to know.

How often are we tempted to know more than the Bible reveals to us?

How often do we resort to conjecture or guessing, even logic, that leads ultimately to a place that contradicts Scripture?

Most, if not all, heresies begin with a grain, even a nugget, of truth, but then begin to apply worldly, fleshly tools to try to peer into the deep things of God.

Things He hasn’t chosen to reveal.

And people go astray, some making shipwreck of their faith.

It doesn’t matter how often the Serpent says it to us, we will not be like God, knowing everything He knows.

But that doesn’t stop us from trying to understand WHY God does some things.

Why His hand of providence gives one thing here, and another thing here.

We try to figure out His reasons – and we most often will not understand this side of heaven.

But I can guarantee you that in heaven, you will praise God for all His providence because you will see it was not just good – it is perfect. A perfect gift.

And that’s where we find ourselves at the beginning of our text today.

God, through His prophet and His Servant, is answering an accusation being made by some against Him: that He abandoned them.

We don’t see the question from the people, but we can see where it comes from.

The last verse of chapter 49 ends with this:

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” - Isaiah 49:26

But you might hear in your head a “hhmmmppphh” – a scoff at God.

If YOU are our Savior, where were you when we were being conquered?

Assyria and Babylon already, Greece and Rome to come.

And I will say at this point that I am often overwhelmed by the way our Wednesday night studies complement the Lord’s Day, and vice versa.

Because there is very little difference between this and the complaint of Martha to Jesus in John 11:21-22

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

And we saw together last Wednesday that one of the things she could have been saying here is:

“That’s ok, Jesus. I know you did your best. But don’t worry – I still believe you can do SOME good things.”

And like Martha later, the children of Israel were questioning either God’s ability or His love.

Because if He was able and He loved them, they couldn’t explain why He had allowed all this tragedy to happen to them.

So with our time together this morning, I would like to look at His answer to them in this chapter.

The Lord speaks in verses 1-3, and then His Servant speaks after that.

The Lord begins in v. 1: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?”

There is no doubt they have been sent away; there is no denying they have been displaced from God’s promise.

But it’s easier for them to think there is something wrong, perhaps even unjust, in God than to face the truth: they had sinned, and sinned grievously.

They could say that God had become tired of them.

Thay He had wearied of them.

Or that the Babylonians (at this time) had earned some favor with Him that made them His favorite people for a while.

It couldn’t be THEIR fault.

They still went to the temple.

They still prayed.

They paid their tithe (mostly).

They even participated in the sacrifices and festivals they were commanded to in the Law.

There was nothing wring with THEM;

God must be broken.

God tells them in no uncertain terms:

Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away. - Isaiah 50:1

Church – we often comfort ourselves with the thought that God overlooks our multitude of sins and saves us anyway.

We flee to the story of the blind man in John where the disciples ask: “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

And Jesus told them that his blindness was not the result of sin.

But we take the wrong message altogether if we think God NEVER chastens people – both His children and His enemies.

His children He disciplines; His enemies He judges.

Sin is a dangerous thing to play with, a dangerous thing to practice.

Sin, even by a believer, is a grave offense to the holy God.

And yet we believers toy with sin, presuming on the fact we can confess our sins and He is faithful to forgive us.

Where is our mourning over sin?

Where is our life-and-death struggle against sin?

Where, in your fight against your own sin, could you be described as a super-conqueror through Jesus Christ over your sin?

I would dare say that there are some listening to me today who have already planned some sinful activity for this evening or tomorrow.

It might just be allowing yourself to stroll close to sin and possibly, accidentally, fall into it.

Or you may have already made the plans, but you think you need to be right with God this morning so it won’t be quite as hard to confess.

This isn’t the last time in Isaiah where we will hear this:

In chapter 59, we get an elaboration on the effect of sin in His people:

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. - Isaiah 59:1–2

Both there and here, God is making it clear that you cannot love God AND the sinful things of this world at the same time.

This isn’t just the nation of Israel – it is us – me and you – NOW.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. - 1 John 2:15–17

That was Judah’s problem, and that is our problem today: we say we love God and we still love the world.

In one moment, we praise God and sing of our love for Jesus and His love for us;

And then in the next, we sneer in our hearts at our personal enemy,

Planning revenge or humiliation on them,

Or think about what our flesh desires,

Or think about something that appeals to our eyes,

Or something that will put us forward.

Most of our daydreams are, I am afraid, not dreaming about the day when Christ shall appear and take us to be with Him forever, perfected and complete.

We might confess we will be happy when that day comes,

But then we might worry that the sinful things we enjoy now will be forever removed from all creation.

That may be why, in verse 2:

Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? - Isaiah 50:2a

Who was there to come running to Him?

Who wanted to hear about holiness or righteousness or goodness?

For many, the thought of perfect righteousness and goodness sounds good in principle –

But only so long as I can break out of that when I want to.

Righteousness is confining;

It keeps us from following our heart.

It keeps us from being all we can be.

It’s like God told us we cannot eat from ANY tree in the garden (another of the serpent’s lies).

But God is CALLING His people, His sheep.

And His sheep hear His voice and come.

But God says here that no one came – not one man.

How can that be?

“None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” - Romans 3:10–12

Not even one.

Even in the light of His power displayed, nothing.

Parting the sea and the Jordan, the plagues on Egypt, even the darkening of the sky for days.

But for these people, those were God’s acts in the past on behalf of His people.

Yes, He delivered them from Egypt (if they could believe the Bible), but He hadn’t delivered them!

And the children of Israel who left Egypt were no better than the children of Israel who had been carried to Babylon.

And they were no better than the Gentiles of the nations who had not heard the first word of the gospel.

So what will God do about His people?

He will rescue them through His Servant – Jesus Christ.

The Servant, Jesus, begins to speak in v. 4:

The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. - Isaiah 50:4

What He is saying here is that the words He speaks, words of comfort and healing, is the very wisdom of God.

He knows the Scriptures; He hears the word of the Lord; and He obeys every single thing in all God’s Law.

And He strengthens those He calls, sustaining them with His word.

Speaking to them the right thing at the right time.

Not motivational slogans or things to pump them up into a frenzy of zeal.

But the words we desperately need to hear all the time:

Trust God alone. Obey His word.

The Servant says “I was not rebellious”.

Adam was rebellious.

Every person since Adam was rebellious.

But Jesus Christ wasn’t rebellious.

He obeyed.

He never turned His back on God’s calling.

Even when tempted in the wilderness.

Even when facing the death on the cross.

V. 6 shows us who He gave His back to:

He gave His back to those who scourged Him.

Who ripped His flesh open with a cruel whip.

Who swung a rod like a baseball bat at His back so it bled and bruised, no sound flesh to be seen.

He gave His face to those who struck and spit and ripped out His beard.

To those who would hurt and humiliate Him.

And in verse 7, He declares that even in this, it is not His glory He seeks, but the glory of the Father:

But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. - Isaiah 50:7–9

All these things intended to disgrace and shame and hurt and demoralize,

But His heart, His mind, His face is set like flint on the glory of God.

How shall we endure suffering or persecution when it comes?

It won’t be because we are holding out to be recognized as a martyr.

It won’t be because we are stronger than those who have come before us.

It won’t be because we have more willpower or more pain tolerance.

It won’t because we are even looking at ourselves, wanting to make a good showing.

If we will endure suffering as a faithful servant of God, we will endure it like our Lord did:

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2

What we do for our own glory, even a little, is irretrievably sinful.

If you will endure any level of persecution or opposition, you will keep your eyes fixed on God’s glory alone.

Not entangling your own ego, your opinions, your explanations – nothing of you.

But doing the works of God by the means of God with the tools of God – prayer and the Scripture.

V. 10 asks: Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. - Isaiah 50:10

This is another thing we looked at Wednesday: we don’t make our own light.

We walk in the light of God in Jesus Christ.

We walk by the light of His word, the Bible.

We are led by the Spirit of God into holiness and sanctification.

Because those who make their own light are fools, and their light will do them no good in this sin-darkened world.

All the philosophy, all the reason, all the false faith in the world will lead to only one place – the destruction of hell.

Fear the Lord – that is the foundation of wisdom.

Obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. - 1 John 1:5–7

Target Date: Sunday, 25 May 2025

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

4 – sustain – bend toward, stoop to

˓ûwth, ooth; for 5789; to hasten, i.e. succor:— speak in season.

Thoughts on the Passage:

There are a lot of things that will mess up our theology – but one of the greatest enemies is misunderstanding God’s providence.

What is the Good News of this passage – Where is Jesus Christ? (if you can’t answer this question, are you finished?)

Teachings:

What do we learn about God/ Jesus/ Holy Spirit?

Applications:

For the Christian:

For the Backslidden:

For the Unconverted:

Primary Preaching Point:

Building Points:

[on even numbered page]

MORNING PRAYER:

Adoration:

Almighty God and everlasting King.

Confession:

Forgive us our pride, and the loathsome lengths to which we will go to support our fleshly vanity.

Thanksgiving:

In You we find our only hope, both in this life and in eternity joined with Christ Jesus.

Petition:

We beg that You subdue the power of our sins by Your Holy Spirit.

Intercession: (also beyond our local)

We pray that Your peace would reign anew on the earth: