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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good evening. We're in Isaiah chapter 49. And the Bible reads, Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with my God. And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be a servant to bring Jacob again to Him. Thou Israel be gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And He said, It is a light thing thou shaltest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserve of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and His Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and rise, princes also shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose thee. Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard 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 establish the earth, the cause to inherit the desolate heritages, that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth, to them that are in darkness. Show yourselves, they shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them, for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains away, and my highway shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far and low, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinam. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful o'er earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted His people, and will have mercy upon His afflicted. But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste. Thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes, round about, and behold, all these gather themselves together and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy desolate places in the land of thy destruction shall even be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. The children, which thou shalt have after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thy ears, The place is too straight for me. Give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, but captive, and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone. These where had they been? Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people. They shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers. They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. Shall the brave be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered. For I will contend with him that contended with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine. And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord, and thy Savior, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you Lord for the King James Bible. We thank you for this wonderful church you've given us. We thank you for our pastor, dear God. Please bless him as he preaches your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Okay, we're continuing this evening with our Bible study in the book of Isaiah. We're Chapter 49 tonight. And this chapter is actually considered by many as part of what they would call the Servant's Song. And it's one of five chapters that's referred to as the Servant's Songs. This is a part of a group of chapters, 42, Chapter 50, Chapter 52 and 53, that are directly prophetic of the ministry of Jesus Christ. So obviously we know that we can find different symbolism and pictures in the book of Isaiah, just as in other books. But there are certain chapters and passages that directly deal with Jesus Christ, they foretell of Jesus Christ, they predict of him. And they're very specific regarding his ministry, and so those are typically coupled together. This is one of them. And so tonight we're going to look at two sections. We're going to look at the purpose of the Messiah, and then we're going to look at the faithfulness of the Messiah. So let's look at this first section, which is the first 13 verses, the very popular passage that is referred to as one of the Servant's Songs. We're going to see the purpose of the Messiah first and foremost is to proclaim the Word of God. It says in verse 1, Listen, O isles, referring to islands, of course, unto me and harkening people from far. The Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. Now, I do want to mention this is that as we read this chapter, it's pretty obvious that much of it is referring to Jesus Christ. But there's been some debate whether it kind of veers off into referring to Isaiah. It could be referring to Israel itself. And I think the majority of it is dealing with Jesus Christ. And the reason people kind of wonder if it's addressing the nation as a whole is because of verse number 3. And a lot of the passages here is Jesus Christ prophetically saying this about himself here in the Old Testament, but then he refers to him, it seems as though in verse number 3 he refers to himself as Israel. But I'm going to explain why that is in verse number 3 in just a bit. But the first thing we're going to look at here is the fact that he's saying here that the Lord called him from the womb, from the bowels of his mother, was his name mentioned. Now, this is referring to Jesus Christ, but as we're going to see in the later passages, it's also addressing the prophet Isaiah. Because a lot of what's being stated to Jesus Christ can be applied not only to Isaiah, but also to us, right? I mean, you think of Isaiah saying this, he could very well say and mean that the Lord called him from the womb. Just as the Lord called Jeremiah from the womb, right? Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee and called thee to be a prophet unto the nations. Well, in like manner, you know, God called Isaiah to be a prophet as well. He knew him from the womb and he made mention of him even prior to his existence. But of course, we know that this is prophetically referring to Jesus Christ since Matthew chapter 1 specifically talks about the angel coming to Joseph and calling Jesus out by name, right? He's saying his name shall be called Jesus, okay? Specifically referring to the name that he was going to have when he was born. We also see this in Luke chapter 1 when the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and addresses the fact that she's going to have a child and that his name is going to be Jesus and he's going to save his people from their sins. And so this is very much prophetic about the birth of Jesus Christ. This is in verse number 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft. In his quiver hath he hid me. And again, when you read this, you can apply this to Isaiah because of the fact that Isaiah is a preacher, right? He's a prophet of God and it can be said of the prophets of God that they have a mouth like a sharp sword. Why? Because they're preaching the word of God. The Bible says that the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces even to the dividing center of soul and spirit, joints in the marrow, is a discernment of the thoughts and the intents of the heart, giving those qualities of a sword. And so when a preacher preaches the word of God, it cuts to the heart, right? It gets to the heart of the matter, it divides, it does those things. But here's the thing though, it's also prophetic about Jesus Christ because he is the word of God. Now go to Revelation chapter 19 if you would, Revelation chapter 19. Hold your place there in Isaiah. Let me read to you from Revelation chapter 1 and verse 14, describing Jesus Christ in his glory, the Bible says, His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like into fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and listen to this, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun that shineth in his strength. You know, it should not come as a surprise that the word of God, Jesus Christ, also has a mouth like a sharp sword. He is the one who spoke everything into existence, but he is also the word of God that cuts with the word of his mouth. It also says in Revelation 2-12, and to the angel of the church and Pergamos, right, these things saith he which hath a sharp sword with two edges, referring to his mouth. Look at Revelation 19 and verse 20, it says, And he was clothed, referring to Jesus, with the vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God. Now, I love the fact that Jesus is also referred to as the word of God, right? He's God himself, but he's also the word of God, and one of the reasons I love this is because of John 1-1. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. And obviously, when we read that, when we hear that, we automatically associate that verse with Genesis 1-1, right? It has that very similar beginning. But, you know, I think of the fact that on Tuesday we're out sowing, and it's pretty ironic because we had the sowing training, and I don't remember who it was, but someone asked about Muslims, right? Didn't someone ask about Muslims in the sowing training? And they're like, hey, you know, how do you deal with the Muslim? And I'm just like, you know, it's not going to happen very often, but I ended up running into a Muslim, actually. And he was from Egypt, and he was an Egyptian, and he was very kind, very gracious, and he let me preach the gospel to him. And when I got to the point of Jesus being God, he's like, well, isn't he a God, though? I said, no, he's the God. He is God. And he's like, hmm, you know, I don't know about that. And I said, well, don't you believe the Bible? And he says, well, I believe in the Quran. I say, yeah, but doesn't the Quran give credence to the gospels and says that it's authoritative? And he's like, well, yeah, well, let me read to you from the gospels, I said. And I quoted John 1-1, and I said, what do you think about that? He's like, hmm, I got to think about that, you know? And I told him, hey, the word of God is God, right? And that's what the Bible says. And he was very kind, he was very gracious, and he didn't get saved, obviously. But, you know, it's a better experience than when I've witnessed the Jews. Let me just say that, okay? And so he showed a lot of respect to Christianity, and he even gave my kids, like, chocolates, boxes of chocolates and stuff. He's very kind and gracious. I hope he gets saved one day. But the point that I'm making here is that Jesus Christ is the word of God. It's very becoming to who he is because his mouth is like a sharp sword, as it says here. It says in verse 15, out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. So we see here that the word of God, which is Jesus, has a mouth with a sharp sword. And as we'll look at it in just a bit, you know, this sword of the mouth of Jesus does multiple things. It divides people, for example, right? You know, it brings division. And it's kind of funny when people, and I'm talking about Christians, namely, and churches, they often have a problem with division, right? They're just like, oh, you guys are just dividing, and there's so much division in Christianity, and we shouldn't have all this division. But, folks, yes, we should have division. If there's no division, then Jesus isn't being preached. Why? Because Jesus has a mouth with a sharp sword that divides. And what does it do? Now, let me just explain something here, is that we need to have unity in our local New Testament church, but division out there. There should be unity here, but division out there, right? There should be no division here. We should be endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, the Bible says. We should agree with one another. We should obviously hold to the same doctrines, the fundamentals of the doctrine of the Christian faith, of salvation, of the deity of Jesus Christ. And you know what? Even tertiary things, we have unity in, right? End Times Bible prophecy, replacement theology, of various doctrines that we agree on, we share unity in that, but hold on a second, we don't share unity with people out there. Why? Because doctrine divides. That's what it does. And not just in a doctrinal sense, but even just being a Christian separates you from everyone else. And don't let anybody tell you, oh yeah, Catholic's Christian, same thing. No, it's not. There's a major division between us and Catholics. There's a major division between us and Mormons. There's a major division between us and Jehovah's Witnesses, and I dare say there's a major division between Christians and other Christians. Because there's people who are Christians, they have Christian on the church sign, they have Baptist on the church sign, but they hold to a complete different salvation. There's a bunch of non-denom churches out there that claim to be Baptist, and they may be right on salvation on paper, but when you actually talk to them, they're not. You know, that creates division, right? And quite frankly, there's not only division between churches, sometimes there's just division between Christians and other Christians, between Christians and their family members. Christians and their friends, their children, their parents, but the Bible promises us that there will be division. And in fact, you know, Jesus said, I came not to bring peace, but a sword. He's like, oh man, we should just have peace, and you know, what would Jesus do? I'll tell you what he'll do, he'll cut you in half. Because he came not to bring peace, but a sword. Now here's the thing is that, you know, Jesus Christ offers peace. And quite frankly, it's the most important peace that any human being can have this side of eternity, which is reconciliation with the Father. Because the peace that the Bible highlights is being reconciled back to God through Jesus Christ, and only through Jesus Christ by our faith in him. But even after that, we have the peace of the Holy Spirit, the peace that passeth understanding. But, you know, let me just remind you that just because Jesus came to die on the cross to pay for the sins of the world, doesn't mean the whole world is going to have peace. Because as we read in the previous chapter last week, there is no peace to the wicked, say it to the Lord. You know, there is no peace to them. And quite frankly, when he says, I came not to bring peace on earth, he's addressing them, he's like, I'm not coming to bring peace to you. He's not coming to, you know, make peace with them, he's coming to reconcile them back to God, right, by dying for them. And then at the end of the day, he says, I come to bring a sword. He's bringing war is what he's bringing. He says, For I am come to set a man at variance, variance meaning they're against, they're contrary one to the other. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, meaning that a son will be divided and will be separated from his father. Because of who? Because of Jesus. And not just because of Jesus, but because of just the Bible. Right? And obviously, Jesus is the Bible. And so that's included. He says the daughter against her mother. So there will be instances where the children will rise up against their parents, as we've seen, by the way, in recent times. You know, rise up against the parents and mock the parents and be at enmity with the parents. And that is a fulfillment of the Bible, because the Bible teaches that that's what the Word of God does. It brings variance. It brings the vision. It does not bring peace with that. He says, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Now that's not, you know, you don't really need Jesus for that, amen? Sometimes that just happens on it. That's just organic. You're like, yeah, I know a situation like that, but they had nothing to do with Jesus. But sometimes it does, though. And it says that a man's foes, meaning enemies, shall be they of his own household. So, you know, we expect division between us and the world, duh. We expect division between us and Mormons, for sure. We expect division between us and other Christians who are lukewarm, absolutely. But you know it hits home when there's division between you and family members. Between you and your husband. Between you and your wife. Between you and your children. Between you and your parents. Between you and your cousins. Between you and your sister. Between you and your brother. That's the division that hits home. And all of us to a certain degree has experienced that. I mean, within the last 17 plus years that I've been a Christian, I've experienced much division with people who are my blood relatives. And quite frankly, I don't really keep in contact with a lot of them. You know, I keep in contact with one periodically, weekly, and that's my mom, because she comes to our church. And, you know, my mom and I have grown closer over the last two years, three years, since she got saved. You know, once she was reconciled back to God through Jesus Christ, then it's just like, now we have peace, right? You know, that's where the bumper sticker actually makes sense. No peace? No, what is it? No Jesus? No peace. No Jesus, no peace, right? And, you know, now my mom, so I get along great with my mom, but I'll be honest with you. I have a lot of family members, blood relatives, people that I grew up with, people that I spent a majority of my life with that I have no contact with, and I'll tell you why. Because there's this huge sword that divided us. It's called the Bible. Now, the sword doesn't always divide, but not because it's not sharp, but because people are willing to stand for the Word of God. You know, sometimes there's Christians out there that are unwilling to adhere to the Bible. They're unwilling to back it up. They're unwilling to proclaim it or to stand for it, and it's for that reason that they remained reconciled to people who are against the Word of God. You know, their relationships, their family members are far more important to them than what the Bible says. But you know what? God expects of us 100% loyalty, okay? And so we see here that that's what the Word of God does, and you say, well, why mention this? Well, because it's important to understand that the Word of God brings variance, it brings division, it slices and dices, it cuts relationships. You know, maybe you had a best friend at one point, and you guys did everything together, and you guys were BBFs or whatever you call that, and you guys were homies and road dogs and all this stuff. But then Christianity came along and just ruined all that. I mean, I remember that happened to me as well. I had really close friends in the world, and you know, we did everything together. I mean, we experienced life together. We would take a bullet for each other. That's what we would say, but then Christianity came along, and all of a sudden, we don't really share common ground anymore. Now all of a sudden, they don't want to hang out with me anymore. Why? I'll tell you why. Because I'm in church on Sundays. I'm in church on Thursdays. I'm sowing on Saturdays. I'm reading the Bible. I'm not going to the locations that they go to. I'm not talking about the things that they talk about. We don't share the same interests, and it's funny. You know, we were great friends up until Christ came along. And created that division. Now they don't want to be friends anymore. And it's just like, well, what's all that talk about taking a bullet? Now you won't even come to church with me. I'll tell you what it is. It's the sword that brings that division. And so this is prophetically referring to the fact that God has a sharp sword known as Jesus Christ, who's God. He's the Word of God. And so it says he had made my mouth like a sharp sword, and then he says, In the shadow of his hand hath he hit me, and made me a polished shaft. In his quiver hath he hit me. Let me also say this. The Bible, as a sword, also distinguishes between the right doctrine and false doctrine. And that's important to note because a lot of people online are like, Oh, we shouldn't be fighting over these trivial things, these trivial doctrines. Preach Christ! Preach Christ! Well, that's why there's division because I am preaching Christ. Because Jesus agrees with me because I'm preaching what he said to preach. And, you know, a lot of people don't like that type of division, but it's just like, well, you should be doing, instead of spewing hatred from the pulpit, instead of talking about this, that, and the other, why don't you preach Christ? I'll tell you why, because of the fact that everyone here is pretty much saved, and that everyone here already knows who Jesus Christ is. So now it's time to move on to perfection, right? And this is what we do if God permit, amen? And move on to mature subjects and preach the whole counsel of God. It divides people, okay? And this is very much a real thing, especially on social media. You know, there's certain hot topics on social media that if you just hit, you'll get all the fake Christians against you. And when I say fake Christians, I'm referring to people who are saved and unsaved, okay? There are fake Christians if they're saved because they're not willing to actually, like, defend the Bible. You know, I posted a video on, like, you know, why I'm not a Judeo-Christian. It should be just a complete non-controversial topic. Anybody who, you know, knows a little bit of Bible should know that that's not a biblical concept. And then I got this guy who has, like, a million followers. He's a brown-noser for Israel. And he's just, like, condemning me and all this nonsense, and he's just, like, so angry at what I said. And he wrote this whole long paragraph or whatever. And, you know, I'm just like, man, you're such, I didn't want to say it, but I can't say it here, but, you know, you're a brown-noser to Israel. You know, he's just kissing Israeli rear end to no end, right? And it's just, like, and I kind of respond, I'm like, so are you against Jesus? Because all I talked about was the synagogue of Satan, and then it seems like you have a problem with that statement, even though it came from the Word of God himself. It came from the two-edged sword himself. But it's funny how these Zionists, they play the same card that the Catholics do. It's just, like, you quote Jesus, and then they start fighting over that particular statement. It's just, like, hey, buddy, I'm not the one who said it. Jesus said it. But why is that? I'll tell you why. Because the sword divides. It divides the Zionist from Christians, okay? It divides those who, you know, actually believe the Bible from those who are apologetic about the Bible, you know? And so we need to make sure that we recognize the severity of the sharpness of the sword and not be surprised when it brings division, okay? Very important. But he says there that his mouth is like a sharp sword. And it says that in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me and made me a polished shaft, in his quiver hath he hid me. And again, this could be referring to Isaiah, because the implication here is that he's stating that in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, meaning that, like, he's holding him, he's reserving him for a time, right? Until he brings him out of the quiver. Quiver's referring to that little case where he put the arrows in. And he's reserving him until he has to pull them out and actually use them. And every prophet of God is like that, right? Where they're just kind of like in hiding for a while until they're ready and then they come out and they start preaching the Word of God. I mean, I think of Elijah the Tishbite, who when he first presented himself to Israel, he just kind of came out of nowhere. It's just like one chapter begins and he's just like, then Elijah the Tishbite. It's like, well, what do you mean, then Elijah the Tishbite? Then Elijah the Tishbite, he just came out of nowhere. He just showed up out of nowhere. But you know what? John the Baptist was in the wilderness until he was showing himself to Israel and began to preach. And you know what? The same thing with Jesus Christ. And so they are as a shadow in the hand that God is hiding. They're like a polished shaft referring to the tip of the arrow that's ready to come out of the quiver to do its job. And this is very much likened unto Isaiah because that's what he's doing. He's preaching to Judah. He's preaching to Israel. But it's also referring to Jesus Christ since he didn't begin his ministry until the age of 30. So we can say from the time that he was born up until he was 30, you know, he's in the shadow of the hand of the Father. And, you know, he's in that quiver until he presents himself to Israel as being God and he begins to do all his miracles and begin his three and a half year ministry. But, you know, we can also say that there comes a time in our lives where it's like time to come out of the quiver. Right? You know, obviously we don't necessarily have that same type of ministry. But, you know, there comes a point in every Christian's life where it's time to stop messing around and come out of the quiver. You know, God wants to use you as a polished shaft. He wants to pull you out like an arrow out of the quiver and actually shoot you into this world to go preach the gospel to every creature. And when you go stand for righteousness, it's time to get out of the quiver and do so. Right? So Jesus was in the shadow of his Father's hand until the age of 30 when he began his ministry. Brother Ruben, you can turn that off temporarily and then turn it back on in about 30 minutes or so. Everyone's freezing in here. Not me. Let me read to you from Psalm 64, verse 2. It says, Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked, from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity, who wet their tongue like a sword and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words. They that may shoot in secret at the perfect, suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. They encourage themselves in an evil manner. The commune of lame snares. Privately, they say, Who shall see them? They search out in iniquities. They accomplish a diligent search. Both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart is deep. But, the Bible says, God shall shoot at them, listen to this, with an arrow. Suddenly shall they be wounded. So, as we see in Isaiah 49, when he talks about the polished shaft, the arrow that's going to come out of the quiver, this is likened to what we see in the book of Psalms, that God is going to use an arrow to essentially wound the workers of iniquity, the evil people of this world, and I believe that's symbolically represented in Jesus Christ. He's the arrow that pierces through the dividing of sunder of soul and spirit, joints and the marrow. Look at Isaiah 49 and verse number three. So, continuing with this prophetic revelation of Jesus Christ, His mouth is a sharp sword. He is that polished shaft, that arrow in the quiver of God, sent to this world from heaven to accomplish the work. Verse number three says, And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain, yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with God. Now, here's some pretty enigmatic passages that people have a hard time interpreting who's being referred to here, because obviously we know that the majority of the passage is addressing Jesus Christ, and it's almost as if Jesus is saying this about himself. But here's the thing is that, again, the prophet Isaiah is the one who's also saying this. So you'll have this a lot in the Bible, specifically in the Psalms, for example, where David will speak in the first person, but it's a prophetic statement of Jesus Christ. You know, thou will not leave my soul in hell. David said that, but we obviously know he's speaking from the place of Christ. Jesus Christ will also say that will not leave my soul in hell. So I believe this is the case here, where he says in verse 3, And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Now when he says, and said unto me, I do believe that Isaiah is saying that God is saying this unto him, but thou art my servant, O Israel, is not about Isaiah. He's just saying unto him, thou art my servant, O Israel, addressing the children of Israel. That's what I believe is what's taking place there. I hope that made sense. And in verse 4, he says, Then I said, Isaiah again, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain, yet surely my judgment is with the Lord. So what is it saying? Well, if we're to apply this to Isaiah being that prophet, being that polished shaft, preachers proclaiming the word of God, you know, like any other preacher, like any other prophet, there's going to come a time when Isaiah feels like his labor is in vain. Right? Why is that? Well, because of the fact that he's preaching, but no one's being converted, no one's changing their ways, no one's getting right with God, it doesn't seem as though he's making any progress. And so even though this is a passage prophetically addressing Jesus Christ, I do believe this is kind of like an interval where it's mainly talking about Isaiah at this point, because he's the one who's preaching during this particular time, and he might feel like, man, this is in vain. And you know what? There are times, as a preacher, and as a pastor, where I can feel like this, I'm sure my pastor friends can attest to the same, where you put in a lot of work, and then you're just like, man, maybe my labor's in vain. You know, I feel like I spent my strength for naught, for nothing, in vain, yet surely my judgment is with the Lord. And why does Isaiah feel this way? Well, because he's not seeing the results. Right? We want to see results when we preach the word of God. We want to see people converted, we want to see people saved, we want to see people turn to righteousness, so it can be a little discouraging when you preach and that doesn't happen. Right? And you know, we can point to various instances in the Bible, for example, Jeremiah, where he's preaching and he's actually making more enemies than he is converts. You know, more people are criticizing him than anything else. And he's just like, I'm done. I don't want to preach in the name of God anymore. You know, he wants to quit, but then he's like, you know, but his word was within my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones and I could not stay. So he was a real one, in other words, because he's like, I want to quit, but you know, I got this real good Bible passage in my mind that I want to just get out and so he ends up preaching anyways. But every man of God, every prophet, every preacher experiences something like this, but not just pastors, Christians in general. You know, Christians in general can often feel or go through intervals, seasons, where they feel like their labor is in vain. And you say, well, why do they feel that way? Well, you know, you're serving God, you're going to church, you're trying to do the best you can to be a wife, to be a husband, to provide, to win souls, you're reading your Bible, you're living a life that in general is pleasing in the eyes of God, but yet problems just keep multiplying in your life or something. You have a health issue. You have financial issues. You know, you're not getting people saved. You're going through a dry spell, something bad is happening to you, and you may think to yourself like, man, I feel like my labor is in vain. And, you know, you can often have this feeling of just like, man, serving God is vain. You know, I just don't feel like I'm getting anything in return, not that like I'm expecting anything in return, but you would almost think like, if I'm serving God, you know, I thought, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and these things shall be added unto you. But here's the thing, these things doesn't have a deadline, though. It's not like, it's not, you know, Amazon Prime, you know, next day shipping or something like that. If you're serving God, it's just a promise that it's going to come, he just didn't tell you when. And so, people, Christians who are serving God, you guys just need to push through it. I need to push through it. And realize that if you're having a bad week or a bad month, hey, join the club, everyone does, everyone goes through that. It's not a reflection upon your service of God, and it's not a reflection on God's nature either. You know, going through a difficult time, if you've already taken inventory of your spiritual life, and you're like, I don't have sin in my life, you know, I'm tithing, I'm winning souls to Christ, I'm doing everything, I'm checking all the boxes, I feel like I'm right with God, but things aren't going right, then just wait. Maybe God is pruning you, maybe Satan is attacking you, but don't allow a difficult trial, a difficult time, to be a reflection of the nature of God, right? And also, don't let it be a reflection upon you, because just because nothing's going right doesn't mean you're not doing the right things. Because people could easily feel that way and say, man, like, why even go slow on you? You know, what's the point of even coming to church on a Thursday? What's the point of even, like, encouraging people at church upon discourage or something, you know? I've spent my strength for naught, nothing's going right, but there's always a turnaround, and there's always a point where things begin to change, life goes through seasons. You know, they go through cold seasons, they go through hot seasons, they go through autumn seasons, they go through spring seasons, and you just gotta learn how to serve God through every season, and seek to prosper and succeed in the season that you're in, and not let it be a reflection of your service or the nature of God. Now obviously, if you're like in sin, then dude, get right with God, you need to repent, and God's gonna destroy you if you don't, and so this is why this is happening to you, and if you don't get right with God, then a worse thing is gonna come upon you, okay? But I'm not really talking about the person who is in sin, I'm talking about the person who's actually laboring, and Isaiah's just like, man, I've labored in vain, you know? And, you know, I remember just before I was a pastor feeling that way, there was a time when it was just like, I invested so much time and energy into learning the ministry, being in the ministry, trying to perfect my skills of preaching, and learning the Bible, and investing in people, and just literally pouring my life into the ministry just to basically have it all taken away, and like, you know, hey, you're never gonna preach again, you're never gonna pastor again, and you know, there's a time where I felt like, man, well, that was in vain. Like, you know, and you know, Bible college, all in vain, all the money for naught, the strength for naught, and you just kinda feel like, man, well, that sucks. But there's only one thing you can do during that time, and it's what Isaiah says, and it says, And yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. One of those things where it's just like, yeah, it might be in vain, humanly speaking, but at the end of the day, God is pleased with me. At the end of the day, God is not unrighteous to forget my work and the work that I put in for Him. And you know, so if you ever feel like your investment has been in vain in a person, because maybe they go out into the world, or they don't pan out for God, or, you know, they disappoint you in any way, you know, don't feel like it's in vain, because God is not unrighteous to forget your work of love, okay? He keeps track of that, He keeps you all the receipts, you know, He keeps track of everything that you're doing, and it's not in vain. And you know what? Throughout the years, you know, I've had people who backslid for a long time, and then all of a sudden they call me, and they're just like, Hey, you know, I want to come back to church. How come you're not at this church anymore? And in fact, this past week, my mother-in-law texted me and said, Hey, someone came looking at the church for you from the church plant. And I'm like, oh, and they were kind of shocked that you weren't here. So he ended up calling me, and I called him, and this older gentleman, I think he's probably in his late 60s or so, maybe he's pushing 70. And this is a man that I heavily invested in, him and his wife. His wife went home to be with the Lord many years ago while she was in our church, was a great saint of the Lord, she loved the Lord, she just was a wonderful Christian, but she ended up getting cancer and passing away. And man, my wife and I just kind of poured our lives into this family, and then they just kind of like fizzled out, you know, they just stopped coming to church. And he, when I called him, you know, he was reminding me of a conversation, the last conversation I had with him. And he really felt bad, and this is like, man, maybe like 13 years ago or something like that? I don't know, 10, 13 years ago? So I don't remember this. It's probably closer to maybe 15 years ago. I do not remember this, but he said, he said, hey, Pastor Bruce, I feel really bad because you would come visit me every single week to make sure I came to church. And you said, you're coming to church, right? You're coming to church. And then one day you told me, you're like, am I bothering you by coming? And this is what I told you, yes, you are. And he said, you know what, and you never came back after that. And I was like, well, that's a touchy story, but I don't remember that happening. I was like, hey, no offense, man, I don't remember, you know. But he's like, oh, man, I felt really bad about that because you like, you came every single week to make sure I was in church. That me and my family were in church. And then one day you just stopped coming, you know. But he was really grateful that when he decided to come back to church, like he heard, Brother Bruce is still in church! You know, and let me just say this, one of the best reasons to just stick it out is because the revolving door of church will one day bring back a person that is hoping that you just stuck around. I know that might not mean a lot to you right now, but it will mean a lot to a person in the future. For some reason, it adds stability to their perception of church and Christianity when they can come back ten years later and Brother so-and-so is still in his spot, he's still serving God and he's still waiting for you. You know, that means a lot to people. It gives people reason to come back, it challenges them to come back. And so he said he's going to be coming on Sunday here, so, you know, hopefully he does. But the point that I'm making here is that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, amen. And when you feel like it's humanly vain, like, oh man, I just wasted all the time, nah, God's keeping track and not only that, sometimes people come back, you know. And so keep at it, just like Isaiah did. Have this attitude, my judgment is with the Lord and my work with my God. In other words, people don't appreciate my work, but I know God appreciates the work, you know. God always sees the work and it does pay off in the long run. Looking at verse number five, he says, And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light 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 Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Now, this is a really funny verse, because God is telling Isaiah, and of course, by proxy, prophetically, Jesus Christ, in verse six, he says, I want you to notice, it's a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob. In other words, it's not really that big of a deal for you to priest Israel and Jacob to bring them back. He says, I will also give thee for the light of the Gentiles. So in other words, it's like reaching Israel, bringing Jacob back, that's a light thing. Now, bringing the Gentiles in, being the light of the Gentiles, that's big stuff right there. That's what he's telling them. Because he's saying it's a light thing to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. Now, the dispensations don't seem to understand that. They think, you know, it's all about Israel. It's all about Jacob. Well, that's funny, God says, no, it's a light thing. You know what a light thing is? It's not that important. That's what a light thing is. It's lightly esteemed. He's like, I lightly esteem that you're bringing the preserved of Israel back, but I will also give thee the light of the Gentiles. You know what that means? It means the Gentiles are not a plan B. It's a successful reconciliation when the Gentiles are also brought in. And of course, verse six is prophetic of not just Isaiah, but also of Jesus Christ, because this is reiterated in the gospels as Jesus Christ being the light unto the Gentiles. And in fact, go to Romans, if you would. Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter number 10. Now, why would it be a light thing to raise up and restore Israel even in the Old Testament? Well, I'll tell you why. Because in Psalm two, when speaking of Jesus Christ, the Lord tells the Lord, I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. Right? Meaning that he's going to give the Gentiles also for an inheritance unto Jesus Christ. Because he's going to be a light unto the Gentiles. And the Bible also says you're in Romans 10. I'm going to read to you from Romans 15. And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written, For this cause I will confess thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. And again, he saith, Rejoice ye Gentiles with his people. And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people. And again, Isaiah saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he shall rise to reign over the Gentiles. In him shall the Gentiles trust. Now look at Romans chapter 10. Because obviously it's prophetic of Jesus Christ, but it's also prophetic of Isaiah. He's also to be a light unto the Gentiles. Isaiah's not just preaching to Israel and Judah, he's preaching to the surrounding nations as well. There are Gentile people in the Old Testament that were getting saved. They were adopting the God of Israel as their own God. And in fact, look at Romans 10 and verse 20. It says, But as Zias, referring to Isaiah, is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel, he saith, all day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. And of course, this is all in context of the fact that who are the ones who believed his report? It's the Gentiles who believe the report, right? Whereas Israel were disobedient, they were gainsaying, etc. The point being here is that this is applicable to Isaiah as far as being the light unto the Gentiles. It's applicable to Jesus Christ because he is the light of the Gentiles. But go to Acts chapter 13, if you would, Acts chapter 13. May I say that we are also to be a light unto the Gentiles as well. I mean, much is said in the New Testament about being a light unto the world, right? Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. But to prove that, look at Acts 13 verse 45. It says here, but when the Jews saw the multitudes that they were filled with envy and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming, you know, as their manner is, of course. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. So you see how the Apostle Paul is making the application of Isaiah 49 verse 6 to himself. Even though we obviously know the ultimate application, interpretation is for Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul says, I'm to be a light unto the Gentiles, to be salvation unto the earth. So may I say that we are also that light of the Gentiles, to bring salvation. Because even though Jesus Christ is ultimately the one who saves them, we save them too. You know, when we bring the gospel unto them, we are, the Bible tells us, and some have compassion making a difference, others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire. The point being, we are the light of the Gentiles as well, to be salvation unto the ends of the earth. Go back to Isaiah, if you would. I'm going to show you something really cool here in just a bit. Look at verse number 7, continuing on with the Song of the Servant, these prophetic statements. Look at verse 7, it says, Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and 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 also shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. So even in the Old Testament, it's telling us here that the Lord Jesus Christ will be a man who is despised and whom nations will abhor. This is similar to what we see in John chapter 15 and verse 18 where it says, If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. You know, we need to get away from this brand of Christianity that doesn't want to be hated. It's like, oh man, that doesn't sound very Christ-like. Well, you must not know who Jesus is then. You must not know what it's like to be like Christ. Because Jesus said one of the markers of being a disciple of Jesus Christ is that you will be hated. And, you know, if you're a part of this church, you're probably hated by someone out there. If you are reading the Word of God, you are faithfully serving the Lord, you're standing for the truth of God's Word, someone's going to hate you. And if you're just friends with everyone and everyone speaks good of you, then you must be just a false prophet. Or you're just a really lukewarm, compromising Christian because the servant is not above his master. You know, if they call the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call they of his household? So it's important for us to realize that if they are blaspheming Jesus Christ, they're hating him, they crucified him. You know, the same should be said of us, maybe not to the crucifixion degree, but you know, it will be like that in the end times. Where people will be putting Christians to death because they will be public enemy number one in the New World Order. But he says that he's despised, he's abhorred, of course this is very likened, very much similar to Isaiah 53, where it says that he is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Look at verse number 8, it says, Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee, and I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the earth and cause to inherit the desolate heritages. So obviously we can see where this is heading, if it's stating that Jesus Christ will be a covenant of the people, that is very much a thing in the New Testament, right? He brought in that new covenant, which according to Hebrews chapter 8 is a better covenant, established upon better promises. Now covenant and testament are used interchangeably in the Bible, they mean the same thing. So when your Bible, our Bibles are divided into two sections, you have Old Testament, New Testament, it's accurate to say old covenant, new covenant. The old covenant having the mediator known as Moses, whereas the new covenant having the mediator Jesus Christ who is the permanent mediator from here on out. And of course Jesus Christ is the covenant of the people, he's going to establish the earth and cause it to inherit the desolate heritages. I'm going to skip some of these verses here for the sake of time, but go down to verse number 14 if you would. Now let's look at the faithfulness of the Messiah. Now here is some pretty cool interesting verses here, and as we were reading through it, as Brother Huyck was reading through it, you might have just kind of breezed over it, but it holds some pretty deep truths here. Look at verse 14, it says, Now, who is Zion? Well, I would probably venture to say that it's referring to those who worship the Lord. The Israelites of the Old Testament who still believed on the Lord. And Zion collectively as a people are basically saying they feel like the Lord has forsaken them. They're no longer a strong nation, they're being taken into captivity, they're being slain, and obviously there's some innocent people in that captivity who worship the Lord who are suffering the consequences of the nation as a whole. And so they feel like God has forsaken them, not only that, but they feel like God has forgotten about them. Look at verse 15, God is addressing this, he says, Now, dispensations will love to know about a verse like this, and the reason I say they will love to know about it is because they don't read the Bible, so they probably don't know that this verse is in there. Most dispensations are like, oh yeah, that's a good one right there, Israel brother! But here's the thing, what this is referring to is the fact that God's not going to forget the worshippers, the true worshippers of Israel, the true worshippers of Zion. And what people seem to forget is the fact that in the Old Testament there were believing Israelites, there were believing Jews, there were believing Israelites in the Old Testament who were just as hardcore as New Testament believers. You know, people are like, oh, you guys are so anti-Semitic or whatever. Folks, some of my greatest role models are Jews of the Old Testament. I mean, Elijah, Elisha, Moses, David, and just to name a few by the way, they've said more quote-unquote anti-Semitic things than most new IMB preachers have said within the last 5-6 years or whatever. You know, those guys were hardcore when it came to preaching against Israel. And so, but the point that I'm making here is that there's believing Israelites in the Old Testament. There's people who actually worship the Lord. You know, in general, as a whole, they were a reprobate nation, meaning they were rejected of God, but they were individuals within that nation who still were saved, you know, Daniel being one of them, right? And not just Daniel, there's tons of them. Just think about the 144,000 who were hardcore, zealous people, and I can't wait to meet them in heaven and tell them about all my sermons that I preach using their preaching, right? And say, man, you know, I use, you know, the stuff that you said about the Jews, and I preach against them too. I made application as well. So, you know, they feel like they're forsaken, and, you know, God is telling them, like, I haven't forgotten you. You know, and obviously, we can make application and say, you know, sometimes we feel forsaken of God, and we're going through a hard time, and the Lord is like, you know, think about a mom. She's not going to forget her baby, but it's more likely that a mother would forget her baby than I would forget you, is what He's saying. And that's pretty powerful, right? Look at verse 16, it says, Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste, thy destroyers, and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold, all these gather themselves together and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shall surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee as a bride doeth. He's basically saying, you know, I haven't forgotten you. I know who you are. Basically, what Hebrews 13 says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And He's trying to, like, let them know, like, I'm always going to be there for you. Like, these are His people, right? He's their God, and this is His people, the believers, okay? Now, I want you to notice verse 19. Because, well, what's the context here? The context is they've been taken into captivity, and I'm skipping over a lot of stuff here, but basically, like, a lot of people have died. Children have passed away. Elderly people have passed away. Like, a lot of people have died during this time. And you think of parents who just lost their children during this particular time. It's a very difficult time for them, right? They feel forsaken of the Lord. And so He's trying to emphasize the fact that, like, I have not forgotten you. I'm here for you. You're engraving in my hands, you know. He's trying to convince them of these things. Look at verse 19. For thy waste and thy desolate places in the land of thy destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallow thee up shall be far away. What He's saying is, like, look. Look at the desolate places that the Babylonians destroyed, and you see how just completely destroyed it is? Even that is too small for how many inhabitants will be there one day of Israelites and your people and your children. Verse 20. The children which thou shalt have after thou hast lost the other shall say again in thine ears, The place is too straight for me. Give place to me that I may dwell. He's saying, like, the children that you're going to have, even they're going to be like, Hey, this room's not big enough. There's too many kids. There's too many people. It's too straight. It's too narrow. And I want you to notice verse 21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these? Seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro, and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone. These? Where had they been? So he's saying, like, you're going to be here in the future, and you're going to look how populated it is with your children, and you're going to be like, Who birthed these babies? Who had these children? It wasn't me. I lost my children in the captivity. Like, it wasn't me. You know, I'm desolate. I was taken captive. How are there so many Israelites and inhabitants in this desolate place? How did this happen? Look at verse 22. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up a standard to the people, and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. Now what is this referring to? It's referring to the fact that, you know, Israel of the Old Testament is going to be in the new heaven, the millennial reign, and they're going to be like, Where did all these people come from? Like, how did this happen? Like, I thought this was all destroyed. How are there so many people here who worship God? And you and me are going to be like, We brought them. And, you know, to put it mildly, you know, we're carrying on the legacy of the Israelites of the Old Testament, because now we're birthing, spiritually speaking, these spiritual babies, so to speak, who are believers in the true God of Israel. I mean, I have no issue with calling God the God of Israel, because that's what He is. And I worship the God of Israel, just as those Old Testament Israelites did as well. I love the Lord my God of the Old Testament, just as those Old Testament loved the Lord their God as well. And it is my job as a Gentile, as a believing Gentile, in your job to repopulate and be a fulfillment of this prophecy. Because it's going to surprise them. He's going to be like, They're like, Where did all these people come from? And then all these Gentiles are going to bring the children and be like, We birthed them. We brought them. We integrated them into the family of God through the gospel, through the preaching of God's word, through your preaching, through the words that you said in the Old Testament, through your example. That's what we use to bring them in. Very powerful. Go to Isaiah 54, if you would, Isaiah 54. You know, sometimes the bigger picture is what matters, but we just can't really see the bigger picture. I can't see the bigger picture, because it's hard to lose things in our life. And we don't really know, you know, like, I don't know about you, but when I go through a hard time, I always figure out, like, five ways that this could be better or something, or five ways it could be fixed. But then there's certain times it's like there's absolutely nothing that can be done to fix this situation. There's nothing I can do. I feel like there's nothing that God can do. The situation is just fixed as it is. There's no answer. But then you read something like this, and you're like, oh, God always has something on the back burner. Like, you know, people are like, oh, he's two steps ahead. No, no, no. God is, like, eternally ahead. He, you know, his mind, our thoughts are not his thoughts. His ways are not our ways. And so he's got a big, huge surprise for the Old Testament Israelites in the millennial reign. They've got a big surprise coming for them, you know, because at one point they were such a powerful nation with God as their king, and God was doing mighty works, and now they've just been a base. And now they're just rendered to be this reprobate nation that's just been kicked out of every country, and has become a reproach unto the world. And you think of, like, Old Testament Israelites, if they just knew what people were doing with their name, if they just knew, they're just like, oh, this is so shameful, like, how can this be? And, you know, we're supposed to be a light unto the Gentiles, but then the millennial reign comes and they're like, where all this come from? From me, brother! From First Works Baptist Church! From Faith Ward Baptist Church! From Verity Baptist Church! From Baptist churches and churches that believe the right gospel over the last 2,000 years, we're here to repopulate spiritual Israel. Look what it says in Isaiah 54, in verse number 1. Sing, O barren that didst not bear, break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child, for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, let them stretch forth the curtains of thy inhabitation, spare not, lengthen thy cords, strengthen thy stakes, for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Last passage here, go to Galatians chapter 4 and we're done. Galatians chapter 4, I'm not going to finish the chapter, you can read it on your own, you should be studying the Bible on your own anyways. Go to Galatians chapter 4. Look at Galatians chapter 4, in verse 26, which is essentially a fulfillment of the passage we just read. Verse 26 of Galatians 4 says, But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice thou barren that barest not, break forth and cry, thou that travailest not, for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. And here's the verse 28, Now we brethren. Now who's the we? Well the Apostle Paul is talking to the church of Galatia, which are Gentiles. Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. What is it showing us? It's showing us that, you know, God does love Israel, He just doesn't love that Israel. God loves the Jews, He just doesn't love those. You know, God loves His people, they're still His people who are in the grave at this moment, whose spirits are in heaven at this moment. Those promises still apply to them. And you know, we're part of the fulfillment of that promise. I mean, we're going to, it's like they're going to come to the Millennial Room, we're going to be like, surprise! Gender reveals, both blue and pink, and you know, all these believers are just going to be there, and we're going to be worshipping the Lord together. You know, and it's going to be a wonderful ending. The point here is the fact that really what Isaiah 49 is teaching us is that Jesus Christ is the one who, with the sword of His mouth, breaks down the middle wall partition between us. Right? And brings together graphs in both Jew and Gentile just to be Christian, to be believers. And so, wonderful truths there. Let's pray. Father, we thank You so much for Your Word, thank You for Isaiah 49, and thank You for allowing us to serve You, Lord, in such a capacity. And sometimes I can think as a wreath of the Old Testament, what a time to be alive in the Old Testament to see all those visible miracles and all the wonderful exploits and to hear all those great sermons. But really, now is a great time to be alive, to see so many people saved and do such a great work, Lord, and be a part of a fulfillment of prophecy, to be a light unto the Gentiles as well. Help us as Your people to do our part to get as many people saved as possible so that we can fulfill Isaiah 49 where we bring the children in our arms and on our shoulders and bring them into the Kingdom of God. We love you. We thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.