Now we thank You, Lord, that we can worship our Father in heaven because of this beloved Servant. Lord, He is so precious to us, but we have to confess it is nothing in comparison to the love that You have for Your Son.
We just want to honor Him before You tonight, Father. We know what a great and mighty God You are, and what a risk You took in sending Your precious Son, Your only begotten, for our sake.
Thank You, Lord, that by Your Spirit You have promised that the work that You have begun, You will complete against the day of His coming. Even as we have sung “Maranatha” tonight, and even as we look to the beloved Servant of God tonight to help us, we thank You for the Holy Spirit, who reveals the Lord Jesus to us.
Thank You, Lord, for this time of fellowship together. Again, we ask that You quicken our tired bodies and make alert our hearts and minds to hear what You would say to the church, even in these days. We pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
It is like going fishing here, you know—so many bits.
For those who have not been here for every session, we are in part four already: bearing the testimony of God—Isaiah bearing the testimony of God. How does somebody bear the testimony of God? Well, let us take a look and see.
In Isaiah 62, we all know these wonderful verses, but let us turn to them as we begin our last time together. We find verses 1 and 6 through 7.
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth like brightness,
and her salvation like a torch that is burning.On thy walls, O Jerusalem,
I have appointed watchmen;
all day and all night they will never keep silent.
Ye that put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest for yourselves;
and give Him no rest until He establishes
and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.—Isaiah 62:1, 6-7
I would like to open tonight by seeing Isaiah, this dear beloved servant of God, in his old age—his dotage, his post-retirement life—and yet living with greater fervor and spiritual life than he had ever known before. Here he is up on the walls of Jerusalem.
Of course, here are some pictures of modern-day Jerusalem at night. This says, Sha’alu Shalom Yerushalayim. That means, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
Why is Isaiah up on the wall? What is his calling up there? How does he come to this final testimony leading to his martyrdom? You know, this word martyrdom is simply related to the Greek word for testimony. It is his testimony unto death.
Those who share testimony—many of those who really bear the testimony of the Lord—do face martyrdom. It is the highest honor in the Christian life.
We have been through a number of seasons with our dear brother Isaiah. We saw him beginning as a young prophet who was undone by a revelation of the Lord, high and lifted up upon His throne. He saw the Lord God, yet He was a man. That changed his whole life. It changed his theology. It changed his understanding of what was going on in Judah, among the religious people—everything was changed.
As he stayed under that vision and that vision laid hold of him, he went, as it were, shut up in a vision for that vision for a number of years. But out of it came the wonderful Immanuel prophecies: Isaiah 7, where a child is born of a virgin; Isaiah 9, where the blessed Child is born and His name is called Wonderful Counselor; and Isaiah 11.
But more than prophecies regarding the future, what Isaiah gained was that very present help of Immanuel. Dear brothers and sisters, we know by now in our lives that if we have the Lord near to us, we can face anything. If we do not have the Lord near to us, even in good times we cannot take it.
How we need Immanuel. Clutch Him to your bosom, because here in our gospel, as Christians, we have this most wonderful gospel: Christ who dwelleth in us. What a tremendous revelation it is.
In the second section, chapters 13 through 23, Isaiah was taken on a tour of the nations around Judah. It was not a tour of the outward things of politics and government, but a tour from the heavenly point of view.
As he looked from nation to nation, the Lord said, “You see the sickness behind that nation? It is pride. You see the sickness behind that nation? It is sensuality. You see the sickness behind that nation? It is kingdom-building. It is Satan himself,” and so on and so forth.
We saw all of these judgments, and there he was as a watchman in Judah and up on the walls of Jerusalem, as it were spiritually, surveying the landscape according to God. May that be our possession as watchmen.
If we wait before the Lord—and especially, I am not sure exactly all that Lance said when he was here on corporate prayer, but surely he stressed the importance of inquiry—if the watchman is known for anything at this stage, he is inquiring of God regarding the things around him, not just taking them according to the external view of things.
How many times have we prayed for somebody and prayed amiss? Though we prayed for their help, nothing happened until the Lord showed us what the problem was. As soon as we touched the problem, there was immediate resolution.
This goes for the nations, our country, and our cities. This is a very important stage: the watchman.
Then we saw this morning how Isaiah progressed yet again spiritually. Of course, he was a watchman from the start, and of course he interceded from the start. But as the Lord increased His life in Isaiah, we see things coming to the fore.
In this third section, Isaiah 24 through 39, the first half of Isaiah, we see that Isaiah has grown from being a watchman to being an intercessor. As he watched and saw how the Lord was handling and dealing with sinful man in mercy, something began to grow in Isaiah’s heart. A groan began to grow.
He began to see that the Lord does not want to judge people, though He must judge people in righteousness. He saw that the Lord, as He looked over rebellious Judah itself, looked with a heart of longing that His children would come home.
So Isaiah began to intercede, as you see him doing back and forth. I really like that mustache he has. Wish I could grow that.
Well, anyway, we saw him speaking regarding the different pride and problems. We saw in his intercession how he found an alliance in Hezekiah. Is it not wonderful when you find some prayer partners who truly can intercede?
May it be that the whole assembly here—I do not know what night you meet for prayer—but if you can gather together on the walls and find yourselves interceding together, you know what? If the Lord’s government and the Lord’s intercessors ever meet, there is revival. May that be the case.
Now we come to Isaiah 40 through 66. It is impossible to take this whole thing in one message, so we can only highlight certain things.
Isaiah, as an old prophet, is now given the highest calling: bearing the testimony of Jesus.
Notice John 12:41:
These things said Isaiah, because he saw His glory; and he spoke of Him.
This is in reference to Jesus, not just God. Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus and spoke of Him 750 years before Jesus walked on the face of the earth. What an amazing opening of the heavens to our dear friend and prophet Isaiah. He bore the testimony of Jesus.
In this final stage, we will see not just somebody speaking, but somebody living what he is speaking. It is one thing to talk about being an intercessor; it is a different thing when you are an intercessor. It is one thing when you talk about the Servant of the Lord; it is another thing when you are a servant of the Lord talking about the Servant of the Lord.
This is the same case we find in the apostle John in his latter years, when he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos because he held the testimony of Jesus.
Now, you know all those radio preachers that are on. Most of them the devil does not even listen to, because they are always asking for money or they are up to some kind of hijinks. But occasionally somebody speaks a true word, and they bear the true testimony of Jesus, like the apostle John. Immediately, they have to be exiled. “We have got to get this guy off the air. He is dangerous.”
There is a difference between speaking even a truth, biblical words, or gospel words, and having the life of Jesus within you self-attesting to the words you are speaking. You have come to the place where your life is the message, as well as the message you speak. This is what I mean by bearing the testimony of Jesus.
The last fifteen years of Hezekiah’s reign ended badly. Steve spared us the details this morning, wanting to lift up our spirits for the Lord’s table, not tell us about Hezekiah’s demise. But he insisted upon another fifteen years.
You remember: he got sick and had some kind of sores. Isaiah came to him and said, “Get your house in order. You are going to die.” He faced the wall and said, “No, I do not want to die. Lord, remember me. Come on, do not let me die now. I am just enjoying things.”
So the Lord gave him fifteen more years, and everything went wrong. He was so happy to have those fifteen years that, when the Babylonian emissaries came, he showed them all the treasures of Judah and guaranteed their captivity.
Not only that, but he bore his little boy during those fifteen years, named Manasseh, who became the worst king of Judah in all time.
In light of all that, the old prophet and his message seemed pretty complete. What more could Isaiah say to a people who would not listen? That was his initial calling: “Go to a people who will not listen.” He had shared everything he knew to share with a people who would not listen.
He is seen in his old age, after Hezekiah’s demise and during Manasseh’s reign, with Jerusalem’s backsliding continuing and deepening. Idols absolutely filled the city during King Manasseh’s reign. It seemed as though King Manasseh did everything in his power to bring every conceivable kind of idol back into Jerusalem.
It was clear. It was a done deal. God had said it, and Isaiah had to say it. Before Isaiah 39, he had said it many times: there was only one destination for these people—exile in Babylon.
What do you do as an old man in that spiritual decline of Judah, with exile a sure thing?
Isaiah had already seen tremendous revelations of Jesus. He had seen Jesus as the Lord and Adonai upon His throne. He had seen Jesus as the virgin-born Child named Immanuel. He had seen Jesus as the Child born from the stem of Jesse, who would become the Messiah and the King. He had even seen Jesus as the Rock and the Cornerstone of God’s city.
Wonderful revelations. But there remained in the old man’s heart a question. Now think about this. Do not think, “La, la, la,” because you know the answer. You know the gospel answer.
Who would have understood the great mystery Isaiah had to face, having seen Immanuel and all? What was that great mystery? He believed in Immanuel. He believed the promises of God. He believed that mercy would triumph over judgment, but he had no idea how it could possibly happen.
How can Immanuel bring salvation and glory to the Egyptians, to Judah, and to the earth? He saw all these pictures of God coming in glory, and all peoples from all nations trudging up to Zion, singing songs and living under the light and glory of Zion. He saw all these promises, but he never saw them fleshed out. He never understood how it would be.
Who could imagine that God would send His own Son to this earth to be the answer to this question?
As an old man, he lived with this question, but not for long. God was about to open His heart to Isaiah regarding the biggest secret of history: Jesus coming to save mankind.
The elder Isaiah probably felt the best he could do was live among that precious remnant, pray with them, and sing with them. His life was basically over—just an old man, you know.
But after fifteen years of silence, after Hezekiah’s demise and perhaps some years into Manasseh’s reign, the sovereign God spoke from heaven again:
Behold, the former things are come to pass,
and new things do I declare;
before they spring forth I tell you of them.—Isaiah 42:9
I do not know why the Lord opened His heart to Isaiah, except that our brother was faithful. He had given his life. He was a testimony of what a servant of God was. But the Lord loves to share His secrets with those who dearly love Him.
He opened up and shared things that eye had never seen and ear had never heard. What Isaiah was about to hear in his old retirement age—over the hill, done, nothing more to his life—was only to write down the most valuable twenty-seven chapters in the Old Testament. That was all he had to do.
Isaiah 40 onward reveals mercy triumphing over judgment in a new revelation of coming grace.
Isaiah would see three more great revelations of the Lord Jesus.
First, he would see the Servant of the Lord coming with messianic anointing. Isaiah is the clearest Old Testament prophecy concerning a Messiah, the Anointed One. That is what Messiah means: coming with power and setting up His kingdom.
He would see the Lord Jesus coming as the suffering Servant of the Lord, interceding by death for the sins of man—something the Jews still do not understand to this day.
Isaiah would also see Jesus as the King of kings coming back as a victorious warrior to set up His millennial rule. What revelations for an old man over the hill.
Do not think God is ever through using you. As long as you are alive, watch out. God could use you greatly if you have a heart for Him. It does not take a strong body. Many of God’s best servants were quite weak and frail, but they had hearts that the Lord could speak to.
I love this comment from Delitzsch. He was a Hebrew scholar, and his commentaries are classics. Here is how he talks about Isaiah’s vision and how Isaiah, in his old age, transcended time and history:
Our prophet rises to a new height,
from which he soars from chapter 40 to the end.
After the fall of Assyria,
Isaiah broke away from his own times.
The end of all things became more and more his home.
It was the revelation of the mystery of the incarnation of God
for which all this was to prepare the way.
Isaiah would see things from the heavenlies that man had never seen before.
How does it all begin? Isaiah 40 is a very important chapter because it summarizes much of what is said through the next chapters. Notice that there are actually four voices speaking in the first eleven verses. Isaiah 40 opens with a summary: four voices speaking good news that had never been so clearly heard before.
The first voice says:
Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,
that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.—Isaiah 40:1-2
Suddenly he hears this voice: “Call out and tell Jerusalem.” But Jerusalem had not even gone into captivity yet. It would be more than a hundred years before Jerusalem went into captivity, and yet here is this voice: “Comfort, comfort My people,” says the Lord.
“Speak kindly to them and call out: ‘Your warfare is ended. Your iniquities have been pardoned. Double payment has been made for all your sins. It is finished. Judgment has been swallowed up by mercy.’”
What? How could that be? God says, “Proclaim it, and I will tell you how.” So Isaiah proclaims this amazing gospel. Imagine: “Your sins are forgiven. It is over. God loves you. He has nothing against you anymore.”
Surely in Isaiah’s heart he must have said, “Wait, wait, wait. Who paid double for all my sins? What are You talking about?” This is a gospel shot straight out of heaven without even an explanation. He does not yet know about Jesus dying on the cross. That will not come for thirteen more chapters.
God says, “It is all over. It is done. It is complete. You are forgiven. Rest. It is finished.” Praise God.
The second voice says:
The voice of one that crieth,
Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord;
make level in the desert a highway for our God.And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.—Isaiah 40:3, 5
What it is really saying is, “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make His way straight. Level a smooth place in your life so that the glory of the Lord will come.”
Here is the second voice: it is time to prepare. Make your life a pathway for the coming of the Lord. This is amazing. You and I have something to do with the coming of the Lord—preparing the highway.
Do not forget: who was the first fulfillment of this verse, before John the Baptist? Isaiah himself. Never forget that. He bore the testimony of God as he shouted these things out. He was prophetically preparing the way of the Lord. Of course, John the Baptist came along, and Scripture says that he was the fulfillment of these verses.
The third voice says:
The voice said, Cry.
And one said, What shall I cry?
All flesh is grass,
and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth,
because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it;
surely the people is grass.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth;
but the word of our God shall stand forever.—Isaiah 40:6-8
This gospel was too good to be true. This third call, “Cry,” left Isaiah saying, “Wait a minute. All flesh is grass. I do not get it. My own flesh is grass.”
God says, “My word says this is true. If My word says it is true, it is true, and it will be done. Do you believe it? My word endures forever.”
Man may be just like grass, here today and gone tomorrow, but the Word of God endures forever. That is gospel truth. We need to stand on the truth of the gospel, even when our lives seem so far short of God’s completion and His goal.
Who are you trusting? Are you looking into your own navel and seeing your own incompleteness, or are you trusting the fact that God says, “This is My promise, and I will do My promise”? It is a clear choice. It was so even for Isaiah.
Then the wonderful fourth voice calls out:
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,
get thee up into the high mountain;
O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, be not afraid;
say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God!Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one,
and His arm will rule for Him;
behold, His reward is with Him,
and His recompense before Him.
He will feed His flock like a shepherd,
He will gather the lambs in His arm,
and carry them in His bosom,
and will gently lead those that have their young.—Isaiah 40:9-11
Here is the good news: saints who believe this, get up on the mountains and say to the people, “Here is your God. He is coming.” People say, “Where? Where? I do not see Him.” But you see Him. He is coming.
He is coming as a Shepherd. He is coming, and His reward is with Him. Get up on the mountaintops and shout from the mountaintops the truth of the gospel.
Out of silence, out of soon-coming exile, out of deterioration in Judah, God bypasses the whole thing and says, “Have I got good news for you, Isaiah.” Here it is.
These four glad tidings opened up a whole new dimension of God’s working, which is fleshed out in the rest of the chapters. There are three divisions.
The first division, chapters 40 through 48, has to do with the testimony of God—God speaking about Himself and declaring who He is. These passages concern the sovereign God as He testifies of Himself.
The second division is the testimony of Jesus, chapters 49 through 57. Here we see the servant songs that we have sung, and the Servant of the Lord is revealed. The mystery of how all that grace could be true is finally explained. How could there be peace instead of enmity? How could our sins be pardoned? Who paid double for all our sins? It was the Servant.
The third division is the testimony of the Spirit, chapters 58 through 66. Here the Spirit of the Lord raises up a corporate testimony in fullness, to stand as witnesses, watchmen, and intercessors until the millennial kingdom. Those last chapters have to do with the end times, the New Jerusalem, and the new heaven and the new earth.
These things are overwhelming, really, but let us get a taste. I hope this teases you into getting back into Isaiah. Most people quit around Isaiah 12. They just run out of steam—too many prophecies, their heads are swimming. But I hope you get teased into reading these things.
The first section, chapters 40 through 48, reveals the testimony of God. God reveals Himself as sovereign in grace and election. These chapters reveal the God of predestined purpose.
First, God reveals His absolute sovereignty. This reaches the high peak of revealed theology in the Old Testament. Isaiah’s revelation of God is summed up in this phrase: sovereign grace.
The God revealed in these chapters is a God of sovereign grace. He loves you. Why? Because He loves you. He has redeemed you. Why? Because He has decided to redeem you. It is His choice. It is His decision, and He is the One who does it. Sovereign grace.
This is the Lord in Hebrew. He is absolute King. There is no other. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent: Ruler of history, perfect in purpose and accomplishment.
Only these children here can memorize all of that in ten seconds and also know how to say the Lord in Hebrew. But we pass on.
Here are fragments from a literal translation of the Hebrew in this section, chapters 43 through 45. Just listen to what God says about Himself. Do you want to know what God says about Himself? That is the best theology you can learn. Forget what the professor stuck in the mud says. Let us see what God says about Himself.
I, I, the Lord.
Before Me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after Me.
I, even I, am the Lord;
and besides Me there is no Savior.Even from today I am He.
I will work, and who can hinder it?
I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions.
I am the first, and I am the last;
and besides Me there is no God.Is there a God besides Me?
Yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.
I am the Lord, Maker of all things.
I am, and there is none else.
Before Me there is no God.Forming light and creating darkness,
making peace and creating calamity;
I am the Lord that doeth all these things.
A just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me.
Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is none else.—Isaiah 43–45
God is not afraid of saying, “I.” We have too much problem with our own self-life. But God has no problem saying, “I,” because guess who is the biggest “I” in the world? “I, I, the Lord. None before My face. I am He.” Period.
Now that is theology.
This is the greatest shot over the bow of all these other false gods in the world. God says, “I want My witnesses to stand up and tell the truth. Do not let people get away with saying, ‘There is this god, there is that god, there is this god.’ There are no other gods. I am He. There is none else.”
This is our gospel, and it adds power to our gospel when we stop allowing for all the other little gods. These little gods have all got athlete’s foot. They are nothing.
Can you understand this? The only God has decided to be our Redeemer.
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob,
and He that formed thee, O Israel:
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee;
I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine.—Isaiah 43:1
Let us look at that for just a second. This is a sovereign God. God is funny—He is a stickler. He never changes His mind. Here is what He has decided: “I created you, Jacob, you little rascal. I formed you. I have redeemed you.”
He says it as already done, completed. “I have called you by name,” meaning, “I know you very personally and intimately.” “You are Mine.”
Now, Jacob, what do you have to say about that? “I love you. I have decided to redeem you. You got any questions? I have formed you. I created you. I know all about you. I have named you. You are Mine. Any questions?”
Oh, the sovereign love of God.
In this section, it is amazing how you turn over the page and suddenly, boom, the word Redeemer, meaning kinsman-redeemer, comes on the scene. The word has not been used one time in the first thirty-nine chapters. Suddenly we see that our God is our Kinsman-Redeemer.
Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel;
I will help thee, saith the Lord,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.—Isaiah 41:14
Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel.—Isaiah 43:14
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions,
and, as a cloud, thy sins;
return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.—Isaiah 44:22
As for our Redeemer,
the Lord of hosts is His name,
the Holy One of Israel.—Isaiah 47:4
Listen to God’s sovereign grace: “I have created you. I have formed you. I have called you. I have redeemed you. You are Mine.” That is God.
Here is the strange juxtaposition: in the first thirty-nine chapters, Isaiah usually referred to God as the Holy One of Israel. Now suddenly, as we saw in those passages, the Holy One of Israel has become the Kinsman-Redeemer.
What an amazing gospel. How could the Holy One become the Redeemer of sinners? How could this possibly be done? There has to be somebody who pays double for all those sins to cause this to be the case.
This is the second great aspect of God’s sovereign grace: He is the Redeemer, our Kinsman-Redeemer, who paid the price for our deliverance.
The third thing we see is a theme behind this whole section of the sovereignty of God: in order to have a sovereign God, He must have witnesses who witness to His sovereignty.
In Isaiah 43, God calls a court in heaven. He says, “I am calling everybody into court. I want all the other gods to come to court, and all the people who testify for other gods to come to court. Then I want My witnesses to testify of Me, and let us see who is the real God.”
Bring forth the blind people that have eyes,
and the deaf that have ears.
Let all the nations be gathered together,
and let the peoples be assembled:
who among them can declare this,
and show us former things?
Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified;
or let them hear, and say, It is truth.—Isaiah 43:8-9
God says, “Bring in your witnesses and talk about the greatness of your gods.” But then He speaks about His own witnesses. That means Judah, though this was not fulfilled until the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost, when God said, “You will be My witnesses.”
Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord,
and My servant whom I have chosen;
that ye may know and believe Me,
and understand that I am He:
before Me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after Me.
I, even I, am the Lord;
and besides Me there is no Savior.
I have declared, and I have saved, and I have showed,
when there was no strange god among you:
therefore ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord,
and I am God.—Isaiah 43:10-12
God is looking for such a testimony: “You see and believe. You see and believe that I am the only Savior. You see that I have done the whole thing from start to finish by sovereign grace. You see that from eternity I am, and therefore no one can take away My own or resist My will.”
It is a tremendous section. God says, “I am the sovereign God. Where are My witnesses?”
But you know how the story goes on. You know the tragedy of the story. When Israel comes in as God’s witnesses, they are blind. Because of their own sins, they do not know who He is anymore.
God says, “I will raise up My Servant, who will restore sight to blind Judah, that they may see that I am God—the only God.” Of course, He is speaking there about the Servant of the Lord, Jesus.
When this revelation of God fills the heart, a vessel of testimony is born. Somebody who bears the testimony of God has had to be fundamentally overwhelmed by the greatness and sovereignty of God.
I do not know why you have been saved and I have been saved. Greater than the mystery of that is why He chose you and chose me. But that He has done out of His sovereign love. We cannot argue, but what we can do is witness to it.
We have been saved and chosen by a God who has decided to be a Redeemer rather than a blotter-out. We are the recipients of such mercy.
This revelation of God is a tremendous revelation—the high-water mark of theology in the whole Bible. If you study Isaiah 40 through 48, this is theology at its purest. But here is the real point: does this testimony of His greatness fill and overwhelm your heart?
That is what it means to bear the testimony of God. So many Christians believe in God and believe that they are saved, but they live in absolute fear of small things.
I tell you what: all of us are fearful, are we not? I am not saying that half of you are and half of you are not. I am saying that as we understand the sovereignty of God, it takes away our fears.
So many Christians are absolutely preoccupied with little tiny things. If we only saw the size of our God, we would become witnesses of His greatness. Do you realize our opportunity as witnesses to talk about the size of God?
When you declare the size of God, He confirms it in the lives of those who hear. It is a marvelous, marvelous thing.
The second vision concerns chapters 49 through 57, where the Servant of the Lord is revealed in four wonderful songs called the Servant Songs.
I need four good readers. I need young men with virile voices in their twenties who will read these four Servant Songs. Who are my volunteers?
All right, we have a one. We have a two. Need two more. We have a three. I have a four. That is your order: one, two, three, four. You know who you are, right? All right, here we go.
Isaiah 42:1-9. This is talking about Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, whom God loves—His beloved Servant. Let us hear what God has to say about this Servant.
Behold, My servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen, in whom My soul delighteth:
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.He will not cry, nor lift up His voice,
nor cause it to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break,
and a dimly burning wick He will not quench;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.He will not fail nor be discouraged,
till He have set justice in the earth;
and the isles shall wait for His law.Thus saith God the Lord,
He that created the heavens, and stretched them forth;
He that spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it;
He that giveth breath unto the people upon it,
and spirit to them that walk therein:I, the Lord, have called Thee in righteousness,
and will hold Thy hand,
and will keep Thee,
and give Thee for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the nations;
to open blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.I am the Lord, that is My name;
and My glory will I not give to another,
neither My praise unto graven images.
Behold, the former things are come to pass,
and new things do I declare;
before they spring forth I tell you of them.—Isaiah 42:1-9
Amen. Is that anybody else than Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, the Beloved of the Lord? He is coming. He is going to do it.
Can you imagine Isaiah hearing this? “That is Immanuel. That is Him. He is going to come. He is going to do these things.” Oh, how wonderful—the Servant of the Lord. Amen.
Here is the second Servant Song, Isaiah 49:1-9. You can read, or you can look up here and see the summary.
Listen to Me, O isles;
and hearken, ye peoples, from far:
the Lord hath called Me from the womb;
from the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name.And He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of His hand hath He hid Me:
and He hath made Me a polished shaft;
in His quiver hath He concealed Me.And He said unto Me, Thou art My servant;
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.But I said, I have labored in vain,
I have spent My strength for nought and vanity;
yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord,
and My recompense with My God.And now saith the Lord
that formed Me from the womb to be His servant,
to bring Jacob again to Him,
and that Israel be gathered unto Him
(for I am honorable in the eyes of the Lord,
and My God is become My strength);Yea, He saith,
It is too light a thing that Thou shouldest be My servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and to restore the preserved of Israel:
I will also give Thee for a light to the nations,
that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth.Thus saith the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel, 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, and they shall worship;
because of the Lord that is faithful,
even the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen Thee.Thus saith the Lord,
In an acceptable time have I answered Thee,
and in a day of salvation have I helped Thee;
and I will preserve Thee,
and give Thee for a covenant of the people,
to raise up the land,
to make them inherit the desolate heritages;
saying to them that are bound, Go forth;
to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves.
They shall feed in the ways,
and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.—Isaiah 49:1-9
What a precious passage. God says, “You know something? It is too small a thing that You should just save Judah. I am going to make You a light to the nations and salvation to the whole world.”
“You are such a faithful Servant. I have shaped You in the secret place, and I will use You in these great ways.” This is the Lord Jesus. Wonderful Servant Song.
The rabbis cannot read these things without crying because the Hebrew is so beautiful. I read Hebrew with great difficulty and have no idea of its beauty because I am always spitting and saying, “What?” But true Sephardic Hebrew, when you hear it spoken, is so, so beautiful.
Yet those rabbis have no idea to whom this refers. There is a partial blindness.
The third Servant Song is Isaiah 50:4-11. Here the Servant testifies as to His consolations. He is serving God, being mocked, beaten, and rejected, yet He has consolation because He lives before His Father in heaven.
The Lord God hath given Me the tongue of them that are taught,
that I should know how to sustain with words him that is weary:
He wakeneth morning by morning,
He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as they that are taught.The Lord God hath opened Mine ear,
and I was not rebellious,
neither turned away backward.
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.For the Lord God will help Me;
therefore have I not been confounded:
therefore have I set My face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be ashamed.He is near that justifieth Me;
who will contend with Me?
Let us stand up together:
who is Mine adversary?
Let him come near to Me.Behold, the Lord God will help Me;
who is he that shall condemn Me?
Behold, they all shall wax old as a garment;
the moth shall eat them up.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.Behold, all ye that kindle a fire,
that gird yourselves about with firebrands,
walk ye in the flame of your fire,
and among the brands that ye have kindled.
This shall ye have at My hand:
ye shall lie down in sorrow.—Isaiah 50:4-11
Here in the third Servant Song, we are watching the Servant of God as He walks through this world looking at the Father. Even when His beard is plucked and all these things happen to Him, He is not ashamed because He is doing the Father’s will. Wonderful testimony.
The fourth Servant Song, which we all know so well, shows where the Servant’s intercession leads: to a cross of suffering. This Servant Song is at the center of Isaiah 40 through 66. It is the central chapter of this last section, chapters 49 through 57.
At the center of the chapter itself is Isaiah 53:5:
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are healed.—Isaiah 53:5
This is the very center of the heart of Isaiah and the book of Isaiah. What else can we do except just hear this? This is the story of our precious Servant of the Lord.
Behold, My servant shall deal wisely,
He shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
Like as many were astonished at Thee
(His visage was so marred more than any man,
and His form more than the sons of men),
so shall He sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of Him:
for that which had not been told them shall they see;
and that which they had not heard shall they understand.Who hath believed our message?
and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He grew up before Him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of a dry ground:
He hath no form nor comeliness;
and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.He was despised, and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
and as one from whom men hide their face
He was despised; and we esteemed Him not.Surely He hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows;
yet we did esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are healed.All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.He was oppressed, yet when He was afflicted
He opened not His mouth;
as a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb,
so He opened not His mouth.By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
and as for His generation,
who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living
for the transgression of My people to whom the stroke was due?And they made His grave with the wicked,
and with a rich man in His death;
although He had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in His mouth.Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He hath put Him to grief:
when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed,
He shall prolong His days,
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.He shall see of the travail of His soul,
and shall be satisfied:
by the knowledge of Himself shall My righteous Servant justify many;
and He shall bear their iniquities.Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great,
and He shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because He poured out His soul unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors:
yet He bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.—Isaiah 52:13–53:12
You notice that last section: “He made intercession for the transgressors.” It is the same word used regarding Isaiah and the Lord’s desire to raise up intercessors.
There was Jesus standing between the two hands of God’s mercy, even laying down His life in intercession. That is ultimate intercession. That is our understanding of intercession: to be in such a gap.
Isaiah 53 is called by many the fifth Gospel. Saint Augustine said, “I think Isaiah writes not a prophecy, but a gospel.” Luther said, “Every Christian should be able to repeat Isaiah 53 by heart.” Take that to heart.
A German mystic—I am not sure who—said, “It looks as if it had been written beneath the cross of Golgotha and was illumined by His throne.” Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, this was a prophecy of the suffering Servant.
This was the tremendous Servant Song regarding Jesus the Messiah. We just look at it and are humbled by such a sacrifice.
We see this mighty sovereign God saying, “I have decided to redeem these people,” and then He sends His Son through such a course of suffering in this world that we cannot imagine how God could love us so.
Indeed, this section in Isaiah 53—and this Servant Song, which actually starts at the end of Isaiah 52—has to be the greatest revelation of God in the Old Testament.
Yet to this day, I spoke to a rabbi once at a conference with rabbis and Christians together, and I asked them how they interpreted Isaiah 53. They said it speaks about the suffering of all God’s Jews and all they go through as a people. They are suffering on behalf of mankind.
So I asked him some questions about this passage, none of which he could answer. “Well, did you die for us?” Silence. You ask those questions, and they cannot explain it. There is a blindness.
We should pray for the day that God takes those blinders off their eyes and they can see, “This is their Messiah.” Oh, how there will be weeping and repentance when that is seen.
After the Servant Songs, Isaiah describes the resulting salvation. After these wonderful and sobering passages, Isaiah suddenly breaks into Isaiah 54, and we begin to see wonderful pictures of salvation.
God says, “Do you know what the salvation is that God has done through His suffering Servant? Our salvation is shalom.”
Now, you know shalom means peace, but it means much more than peace. Shalom means prosperity. Shalom means healing. Shalom means blessedness. Do you know what it is like to be saved? It is a wonderful shalom.
Do you know what it is like to be saved? It is like this:
Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money;
come ye, buy, and eat;
yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.—Isaiah 55:1
Eat and drink of His fatness because He has given to us freely this feast together. It is as if it is a Passover feast—that wonderful Isaiah 55 passage.
Do you know what it is like to be saved? Shabbat. You enter into rest. In Isaiah 58:13 and in other passages in this section, He keeps coming back to this picture of salvation: there is Shabbat, blessed rest.
Do you know what it is like to be saved? It is to have God’s chosen fast. We say, “There is nothing that sounds like good news about a fast.” But you know what God’s chosen fast is? It is the way of sanctification.
God sanctifies and sets us free from our flesh and from that which is evil. When you read about God’s chosen fast, you see, “Thank God, we can be sanctified from those lower animal fleshly temptations and everything.” That is God’s saving work.
Do you know what it is like to be saved? It is like being in Beulah land. That is an old hymn about Beulah land. I do not know if you know about it, but Beulah means married. Sorry—I almost said safe. Beulah means married.
Do you know what it is like being saved? It is like being married forever. Well, that is not good news to some people. It is good news if you love the One you are married to. Of course, we are married to the living God.
Do you know what being saved is? It is Jubilee. That section, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the poor,” says, “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” That is the terminology used of Jubilee.
You know what it is like to be saved? You have been set free from all obligations, set free from slavery. You are in the Jubilee. Rejoice. Let the land rest. Rejoice. That is what it is like to be saved.
You know what it is like to be saved? It is like coming unto a glorious city, Zion; seeing her in all her beauty; joining together in singing with the throng; being involved in the feast in Zion. That is what it is like to be saved.
Man, all the Jews are going, “Man, I am hungry. Man, I am thirsty.” This is salvation. I love it. Beautiful pictures, all accomplished because this God, this Redeemer, has decided to love His children and send His Son.
The third division, the final division, is the testimony of the Spirit of the Lord: Isaiah 58 through 66.
We see that the Spirit begins to take and gather these remnant people, these believers, those who are saved, and produce a testimony of those who are waiting for Jesus.
Notice two things in this section. Right after Isaiah 53, suddenly it is now “servants of the Lord.” Before then, it is always “Servant,” singular. After Isaiah 53, look at Isaiah 54:17; 56:6; 63:17; 65:8-9. These are all servants of the Lord.
Why? Because now it is corporate servants of the Lord who have been saved by the Servant of the Lord. Wonderful picture.
The Spirit fills them. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” and so on—this is actually a reference to the corporate body, those who have been saved. The Spirit fills them as they witness together, wonderfully fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when they were filled with the Spirit together as witnesses.
Again the Lord says, “My servants, I will fill with the Spirit and give this anointing to proclaim the living God.”
Now we can understand why we find this retired prophet upon the wall, just singing, praising, shouting, and full of great energy. Why does he stand on the wall?
I do not have time to go into all this, but realize that at the beginning of that section in Isaiah 62, it is the Messiah Himself saying, “I am up on the wall.” That is why Isaiah is there. If the Lord, Immanuel, is there, then he is there.
If you look carefully at Isaiah 62:1-4, you will see that it is the Messiah talking about being on the wall and interceding for Zion. Then He calls, in verse 6, “On your walls I have appointed watchmen,” to join Him in this whole matter of praying for Zion to be perfected in glory.
Because we know what? Jesus is going to marry a city—even Zion. That is a whole other subject: how you marry a city.
Here is Isaiah. Look at that old man. He is dancing around up on the walls, joining Immanuel in intercession. He is watching, he is interceding, he is a remembrancer, he is a witness. All of these things that we find here—it is him.
On thy walls, O Jerusalem,
I have appointed watchmen;
they shall never hold their peace day nor night:
ye that put the Lord in remembrance,
take ye no rest,
and give Him no rest,
till He establish,
and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.—Isaiah 62:6-7
You know what I love about the Lord? He loves people to nag Him.
Everybody else—you know, my wife always does this to me. Every time before I leave on a trip, she says, “Okay, Dan, you got your belt?” “I have my belt on, yes. I got my belt.” “You got socks?” “Ah, I got socks.” “You got your underwear?” “Yeah, I got Monday.” “You got shirts?” “Oh, shirt.”
But during that whole process, I hate to be reminded. God loves to be reminded.
“God, You said You would make Zion a glory in the earth. I am just reminding You. That is what You said. God, You are going to redeem Your people. I am just reminding You.”
So he is a reminder. He is a remembrancer. I do not have time to go into more than that, but it is just wonderful. You know what? He is a pretty released old guy. I do not know if he was really dancing around, but I am making a point, you see.
In Isaiah 63 through 64, we actually hear the words of these ones who are travailing for Zion. What a beautiful section this is. Do you want to know what it is like to travail for Zion? Read these two chapters. This is it, right here.
It all starts because they see that vision of One coming from Bozrah with a coat all in red. He is a majestic Warrior, coming to claim His own, coming with judgment. They see such a vision, and it emboldens them to pray.
I told you, the watchmen are the first ones to see the Messiah coming. He sees this vision, it excites him, and he begins to pray for this Servant of the Lord to come. Wonderful chapter, Isaiah 63.
Here are the remembrancers, reminding the Lord of His history of mercies and asking Him to remember His mercies and do them again.
I will make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord,
and the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us,
and the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
which He hath bestowed on them according to His mercies,
and according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.—Isaiah 63:7
“I remember the days. I talk about His glory. I talk about when He was rich in the earth. Then I say, ‘O God, You remember those days? We remember those days. O Lord, return those days to us. We want those days again.’”
This is a remembrancer. Wonderful ministry of intercession. He finds that basis for reminding the Lord.
Then in Isaiah 63:15-19, we see this intercessor reminding the Lord that His promises are greater than man’s weakness. The intercessor is not afraid of failure and weakness because the intercessor knows the faithfulness of the Lord.
Look down from heaven,
and behold from Thy holy and glorious habitation:
where are Thy zeal and Thy mighty acts?
The yearning of Thy heart and Thy compassions
are restrained toward me.For Thou art our Father,
though Abraham knoweth us not,
and Israel doth not acknowledge us:
Thou, O Lord, art our Father;
our Redeemer from everlasting is Thy name.O Lord, why dost Thou make us to err from Thy ways,
and harden our heart from Thy fear?
Return for Thy servants’ sake,
the tribes of Thine inheritance.Thy holy people possessed Thy sanctuary but a little while:
our adversaries have trodden it down.
We are become as they over whom Thou never barest rule,
as they that were not called by Thy name.Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens,
that Thou wouldest come down,
that the mountains might quake at Thy presence.—Isaiah 63:15-19; 64:1
What a wonderful prayer this is. You know what he is saying? Have you ever noticed in the Bible that there are times when intercessors are saying, “Lord, why are You asleep? Why are You restrained in Your affections toward us? Why are You making us hard of heart?”
Intercessors pray that way. You know something? The Lord does not mind that. He knows. He did not cause the problem, but He does not mind you saying that.
The Lord loves people to say, “Lord, wake up. Wake up.” He loves that. Of course, He is awake. He never slumbers, never sleeps. But He likes to be told to wake up, and He says, “Oh, okay.”
Then He blesses His children because they ask Him for mercy.
We have no idea how much God wants to hear your voice saying, “Wake up, God. Do You see our condition? Do You see how weak we are? O God, do You not remember the way it used to be before the enemy came in? Come on, God.”
God says, “Okay, okay.” Now, who asks for that? Who has the faith to ask for that? Who is worthy to ask for that?
The intercessor never does it on the basis of our worthiness. He always does it on the basis of God’s faithfulness. “Come on, God, You promised. Now wake up. Get going. Come on.”
The Lord loves that. Do not think He gets nagged. He longs for His saints to call out His name, to talk to Him, to ask Him to move on behalf of His people.
The intercessors pray that irresistible prayer: “Rend the heavens and come down.” Just give God an invitation to be merciful. Give Him an excuse to forgive you and be merciful. Ask Him and see what He does.
“Rend the heavens. Please come down. Let Your presence be known. Reveal Yourself to the nation.” God loves to hear people ask for that.
Do you understand that God is like 99.44 percent ready to do it on His own, but He is just waiting for somebody to ask Him to rend the heavens? Just give Him an excuse. Give Him an excuse to revive our nation.
Give Him an excuse based on His faithfulness, based on what He did when those wonderful saints originally came to this country to seek religious freedom and expression. Remind Him of these things. The Lord wants to be remembered.
Only the Lord never grows weary or tired of requests. We should truly try the Lord on these things.
“Look down at ruined Zion and revive Your chosen dwelling place.” Oh, what a prayer. What a prayer.
What can I say? We are at the end. But here you see the old rabbi Isaiah. There he is, about eighty-nine years old, just dancing his way to glory.
You know why? Because he is more confident in the promises of God than he is in his own inability and failure. He is not even counting on the children of God being faithful. He is counting on the Redeemer, who sovereignly redeemed His children, to be faithful.
That is why he is dancing: “Comfort My people. Behold, My Servant. Ye shall be My witnesses. Remind the Lord of His mercies. Keep watch on the walls until He comes.”
Isaiah is up there jumping up and down. He will be the first to see the Messiah coming because he is in such a position. There he is bearing the testimony of Jesus.
May we bear the testimony of Jesus.
He lived more than eighty years and came to a fullness of testimony. You know, he was sawn in half. Here are two guys sawing a guy in half. But according to tradition, that is not exactly what happened.
Manasseh sent out for his execution. When Isaiah heard, his disciples put him in a tree that had a hollow trunk. They found him, sawed the tree in half, and him as well.
As this world grows darker, even unbelievers are looking for somebody on the wall: “Watchman, watchman, what of the night?”
It is an amazing thing we have even seen in New York in recent days: unbelievers who remark to Christians, “Hey, what is going on?”
There may be a change among unbelievers even at this time if they see the darkness coming over the land. Do not be amazed if they come to you and say, “Watchman, watchman, what of the night?”
May you and I have prophetic wisdom to help them understand that the hand of mercy is holding back things, that they might be saved.
It is time for us to watch and pray while mercy waits. Time for us to watch and pray.
“Rend the heavens and come down.” There is a good prayer.
“Rebuild the old waste places.” That is a good prayer.
“The highway in our hearts is ready. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” You know how much the Lord longs to hear that prayer.
This is our desire.
Would you mind singing one more song? I wrote a song several years ago called “Revive Thy Work,” from Habakkuk, which somehow this afternoon I felt was appropriate. I thought maybe we would sing it.
I am sure probably most of you do not know it. I sang it at a Richmond conference several years ago. But I need—again—would you come up and be my clicker? Thank you, all you front-row players.
You know, Habakkuk was there when Babylon came and brought Judah into exile. He was there and watched the devastation. As he watched, he said, “Lord, what are You doing? How could these unrighteous people be destroying the righteous people?”
God said, “I am going to give you a vision. You wait. I am going to show you things that man cannot even conceive. I have a plan. You just wait on the wall, and you will see My plan.”
These are the words of Habakkuk:
O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.—Habakkuk 3:2
You understand what that means? “I have heard the report of Thy ways, and I fear. Revive Thy work in the midst of the years.”
Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.In Thy wrath,
remember mercy.I have seen the report
of Thy ways and fear.Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.
Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.In Thy wrath,
remember mercy.I have seen the report
of Thy ways and fear.Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.
Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.You reprove,
but in Your mercy
give us vision, Lord,
that they may run.Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.
Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.Fill the earth
with Thy glory.I will rejoice in God.
Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.
Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.In Thy wrath,
remember mercy.I have seen the report
of Thy ways and fear.Revive Thy work
in the midst of the years.
Lord, it is worth it all if in the end Your glory shines. It is worth it all if in the end Your Son is satisfied.
O Lord, have mercy upon us. We have heard the report, and we fear. We know the reality of Your righteousness and judgment, but we ask for mercy.
Lord, we ask that You would awaken to mercy upon our nation, upon our city, and upon Your people. O Lord, we sense such a cry in our hearts. O God, revive Thy work—this pitiful work.
Revive Thy work for Thy name’s sake, because of Thy faithfulness, because You have sovereignly declared that You will have a perfect people. You will have a bride prepared for Your Son.
On that basis, Lord, we ask: revive Thy work. Revive us, Lord. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Amen. Can you sing that one more time? I remember that walking down the street.