Sermon for Jan 19, 2020

This morning I'll be reading Isaiah chapter 49 verses 1 through 7.

And I'll be reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Isaiah was a prophet that gave a message from God during troubling times. In this particular passage he gives a message of hope and comfort in answer to the troubles that the Israelites had been experiencing.

The Servant Brings Salvation

1 Coastlands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention. The LORD called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. 2 He made my words like a sharp sword; He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow; He hid me in His quiver. 3 He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel; I will be glorified in him.” 4 But I myself said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God. 5 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— 6 He says, “It is not enough for you to be My Servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” 7 This is what the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says to one who is despised, to one abhorred by people, to a servant of rulers: “Kings will see and stand up, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel —and He has chosen you.”

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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As I was preparing the sermon for today,,, I realized as I read this,,, that this was a good example of why we need the Old Testament.

If you remember in one of my previous sermons,,, I mentioned that I used to wonder why we even bother with the Old Testament.

I talked about the way that my opinion changed as I became aware of the way that it all fits together as we study and see how that God's plan has unfolded for us to see today!

And yet,,, even today,,, we still have people who really don't use the Old Testament.

That's not hard to believe of the people that are just beginning to learn how to study God's word.

I can see how that you might wonder the same way that I used to think,,, but hopefully after careful study,,, you will change your mind,,, just as I did.

I know a Pastor,,, even today,,, who that doesn't hardly ever use the Old Testament.

She doesn't use it because all that she can see is the harsh things that are written,,, the types of material that doesn't pertain to us,,, and the feelings of gloom that she thinks that the people see or feel when they read the Old Testament.

Hopefully,,, we can look at this scripture and maybe it will help us to see how the Old Testament is still relevant today and why we need these words from God to use as we walk with God each week!

(4:00)

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Before we begin our study of these verses,,, I wanted to bring to your attention that this part of scripture is a part of the so called "Servant songs" that were written by Isaiah in that time.

The first "Servant song" was in chapter 42:1-4 where it tells of the call of the Servant to “bring justice to the nations”

This song, the second song (49:1-6), further defines the Servant’s mission. The Servant is “to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel”

The third song (50:4-9) doesn’t use the word, “servant,” but nevertheless describes the work and tenacious faith of the Servant.

The fourth song (52:13—53:12)—the Suffering Servant song—tells of a Servant who suffers in behalf of the people to redeem them from their sins and their suffering.

All of these together with the other words of Isaiah help to bring a voice of hope to the Israelite people of that day.

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The first part of verse 1 says: 1 Coastlands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention.

This verse,,, according to my Faithlife Study Bible means that,,, basically the whole world is to listen and pay attention to these words.

There was also a reference in where according to my Bible Knowledge Commentary,,, God is telling the people of all the world to come together and realize the truth of His words,,, and the meaning is similar here.

We as Christians must always realize the truth of God's words,,, and,,, also be sure that we apply them to our life.

(6:14)

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The second part of verse 1 says: The LORD called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.

In this part,,, It makes you think of the coming Messiah.

Jesus was called before He was born and Mary was told what His name would be when the angel Gabriel gave her the message that she would be the mother of Jesus.

This message can be applied to Isaiah and also to each one of us here today!

God knows each one of us personally and He knew us even before we were born.

says: 29 For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

As I've told you many times before,,, God wants only the best for us and no matter what we are going through,,, God is at work to make it better for us!

If we will just let Him do things the way that He wants and not hinder Him or make things harder for Him like we can do sometimes.

God loves us,,, so we must have faith and allow Him to do His job,,, even when we can't see what is going on!

(7:33)

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Verse 2 says: 2 He made my words like a sharp sword; He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow; He hid me in His quiver.

In a Biblical Commentary by Richard Neil Donavan,,, he says that in this verse,,, our focus seems to be on the future Messiah,,, Jesus.

It is the servant’s mouth—his words—his voice—that God will use for his purposes.

The first chapter of Genesis revealed that God’s words have great power. “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light”.

“God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so”.

In other words,,, God "spoke",,, and these things happened!

God's voice was powerful!

Now God chooses to speak through the voice of a servant, and the power of God’s word is not diminished by this process.

God makes the prophet’s mouth “like a sharp sword” and makes the prophet “a sharpened arrow”,,, (some translations say “polished shaft”),,, — but these are weapons capable of deadly force.

“The contrast between the sword for close encounters and the arrow for distant attack,,, implies that the Servant is equipped for every contest”.

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The last part of verse 2 says: “He hid me in His quiver",,, and this means that those who have weapons do not always have to use them.

God has called the servant and invested him with power, but keeps him “in his quiver”—ready for use as needed.

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Verse 3 says: 3 He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel; I will be glorified in him.”

Again like the previous verses,,, we can see Jesus spoken of here.

You might wonder how that can be,,, but Jesus came from the Israelite people,,, and it's true that through them all of the world will be saved,,, and that was accomplished through the life,,, death,,, and resurrection of Jesus.

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Verse 4 says: 4 But I myself said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God.

At first,,, this doesn't seem like the words that would come from a future Messiah.

But when you get to thinking about the people that rejected Him and persecuted Him,,, then it makes sense.

You can almost feel the discouragement in Jesus' voice and perhaps it reminds you of your own discouragement!

The feelings that you get when things just don't seem to be going right,,, or it's a terrible time in your life,,, whatever the time may be,,,

Just like Jesus,,, we must pay attention to the last words of that verse,,, where it says: yet my vindication is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God.

Jesus is saying that regardless of the things that happen to me,,, I'm putting everything in the Lords hands and My reward is with God!

That's all we can do as well,,, put everything in the Lords hands and let Him take care of it!

That's where our faith really begins to show,,, especially to those who don't know Jesus,,, during times of trouble and pain where we put our trust in God and let Him take care of it,,, what a powerful witness those times will be.

(11:18)

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In verses 5 and 6 it says: 5 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— 6 He says, “It is not enough for you to be My Servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

In these verses,,, God is saying that the servant,,, which is described as Jesus in most commentaries,,, is going to bring Jacob back to Him.

Jesus is going to bring the Israelites back into a relationship with Him through His life,,, death,,, and resurrection.

But then God says that’s not enough,,, its not enough just to restore the protected ones of Israel.

No,,, You will also be a light for all the nations.

Through You,,, all the world will be saved

Through the light sent by Jesus to each one of us that are Christians today,,, through the Holy Spirit,,, our light shines bright for all the world to see!

Through the life,,, death,,, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,,, we and all of the world today,,, have the opportunity to be saved and spend eternity in Heaven with God because of this!

(12:50)

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As I finish with these verses this morning,,, I hope that we can see why the Old Testament is important.

There is so much more written in there that I haven't even began to talk about.

Sure,,, there are things that aren't fun to read.

Some of the things written are there to help us not to make the same mistakes or worse mistakes than they did.

God made sure that the "good" was told,,, but,,, He also made sure that the "bad" was told!

We can learn so much if we will continue reading all of the Bible,,, not just the parts that we want to read.

(13:30)

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These words were words of comfort and hope for the Israelite people of that day.

If we spend our time studying these correctly and then applying them to our lives the way that we should,,, they will be a comfort to us as well.

Hopefully,,, we can see how that these verses are a comfort to us today because they were written hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth and yet we have the opportunity to be able to read and see that God was faithful to His word.

Knowing that God was faithful then,,, gives us the confidence that we need to know that He will be faithful today.

That’s why the Old Testament is important!

It helps us to know without a shadow of a doubt that God's words are true and faithful.

And it's during these times of study that we truly realize what a blessing it is to have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior!

To truly know the sacrifice that He made for each one of us,,, is hard to explain,,, but it's something that we hold dear to our hearts!

If you don't have that personal relationship with God,,, a relationship that you know that He is always looking out for you,,, I urge you today to take the steps that you need to have that relationship.

Maybe you need to rededicate your life to God,,, maybe you haven't been living life the way that you should have been,,, take the time to ask Jesus to make it right.

Confess to Jesus whatever has been holding you back and allow Him to take away all that's weighing you down.

Whatever the need may be,,,

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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

Oakdale - Hymn Page -

Seminary - Hymn Page - 382

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