Isaiah 42:5-6
A Powerful Pledge
Without any doubt, this chapter is a prophecy from God the Father
about the Son, Jesus Christ. Notice what the Father says of the Son:
\\#1\\ He called Him "my servant," "mine elect," the One "in whom my
soul delighteth."
\\#2\\ The Father described Jesus’ earthly behavior.
a. He would not cry or even lift up his voice in the
streets.
b. The Lord was saying that Jesus will not be loud or pushy
in telling the world who He is.
c. Jesus would present Himself meekly and humbly.
\\#3\\ Jesus’ gentleness was foretold.
a. He would not so much as break an already damaged reed
(water weed).
b. Neither would Jesus put out a smoking flax (candle wick).
\\#4\\ The Father told us that Jesus won’t quit until He’s finished.
\\#5\\ The Father prepared to make a solemn pledge by basing it upon
His holy nature and power.
a. God referred to Himself as the Creator who stretched out
all that is and gave life and a soul to the people.
\\#6\\ Then the Father made a pledge to the Son. He said that He
would…
a. Call or insure the Son’s righteousness.
b. Hold the Son’s hand throughout His earthly journey.
c. Keep the Son in all things.
d. And use the Son to provide a new covenant to the Jews and
give a light to Gentiles.
Amen and glory! It is as if we are standing in the inner sanctum of
God’s throne room hearing the thoughts and commitments of the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit. This is God describing the Son and His
commitment to Him. But you may ask, "What has this to do with me?"
Actually, nothing—at least not directly in this chapter. However, I
believe the Father has made the same commitment to you that He made
to the Son. Granted, I cannot prove it, but I think it is so.
Assuming that I am correct, let’s notice what God is promising to do
for us.
I. \\#5\\ "I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness"
A. God was promising to call Jesus for a righteousness purpose to
do a righteous thing.
1. Since Jesus is God and completely holy, that call was
easy for God to complete with Jesus.
2. However, getting you and me to a place of righteous is a
much bigger task.
3. How does God do that? God does something—one thing—for
every human being and if we respond correctly, God does
another and if we respond correctly to that one, He does
another, and so on—until we are made righteous.
B. What does God do?
1. God—in His grace—issues us the call of salvation.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men,
a. Notice what God said there.
b. His—the grace that brings salvation—appears to ALL
men.
c. God’s grace means God’s work on us and through us.
d. So God’s grace—or His work—that brings salvation,
appears to everyone at least once.
e. The fact that God issues you the call of salvation
means two things:
(1) It means that God wants you to be saved.
(2) It means that you can be saved if you will.
f. Now understand, that grace alone is not enough to
save a person.
(1) There must also be knowledge.
(2) God may burden the heart about the need of
salvation but that will do little good unless
some human being takes the gospel to that
person so that he will know what to do with his
sin.
Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on him in
whom they have not believed? and how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? and
how shall they hear without a preacher?
(3) This is why it is so important that we take the
gospel to every creature as quickly and as
often as we can.
(4) We do not know when God’s grace is going to
appear to our friend, family member, co-worker,
or the stranger down the street!
(5) But when that grace comes by, we want to be
there with the truth about Jesus Christ.
g. Friend, is the grace that brings salvation appearing
to you right now? If so, you need to respond.
h. It takes the call of salvation to get a person to
righteousness for there is no righteousness without
salvation.
i. But while salvation gives us righteousness, we must
continue on to another calling if we are to reach
our goal of perpetual righteousness.
j. And if we respond correctly to God’s call of
salvation, God does something else.
2. God—in His grace—call us to sanctification.
a. Sanctification is a Bible word that few understand.
b. Sanctification is to be separated from sin and
dedicated to God.
c. You have to be saved for God to sanctify you, but if
you get saved, God immediately issues you a call to
depart from sin and give yourself to Him.
d. Listen to a few of the times God did it in the Bible.
1Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God,
even your sanctification, that ye should abstain
from fornication:
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is
crucified with him, that the body of sin might
be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve sin.
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we
continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to
sin, live any longer therein?
1John 2:1 My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not….
e. You can mark it down that if God is repeatedly
writing this in the Scriptures, He is most certainly
going to be speaking to you about it through the
Holy Ghost.
f. So what does all of this mean? It means to stay
righteous, the Christian must turn away from sin
and to God.
g. And then, there is a third calling.
3. God-in His grace-issues the call to service.
a. I will not say much about this right now because the
fourth promise that the Father made to the Son deals
with how God would use Him.
b. However, I will say that surrendering to God’s
service is an important step to achieving the
righteousness that God has created us to achieve.
c. God did not create us to do nothing or to live for
ourselves.
d. God created us to serve Him.
4. God—in His grace—issues the call to glorification.
a. Glorification will occur when we stand sinless,
completely remade in the image of Jesus Christ.
b. For the believer, this is not a condition calling;
that is, it is not dependent upon your
sanctification.
c. The truth is that all Christians will one day be
glorified.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised
up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in
you.
Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate,
them he also called: and whom he called, them
he also justified: and whom he justified, them
he also glorified.
d. On this day, the believer shall receive his last call
to righteousness for glorification is both a final
and an eternal step in righteousness.
II. "and will hold thine hand"
A. There can be no doubt what God was saying to the Son and to
us when He described holding our hands.
1. Why?
2. Because the Father goes on to explain it.
Isaiah 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold
thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I
will help thee.
Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters,
I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest
through the fire, thou shalt not be burned;
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
B. Question: Did the Father hold the Son’s hand?
1. Yes, He did.
a. Someone would say, "But the Son—hanging on the
cross—cried out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me?
b. Yes, there had to be a separation between the Father
and the Son as the Son took the sins of the world
upon Himself for that is why the Son came into the
world.
2. But except for that time period, the Father held the
Son’s hand.
a. At the baptism, when God called out, "This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," God was
holding the Son’s hand.
b. On the Mount of Transfiguration, when God called out,
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,
hear ye Him," God was holding the Son’s hand.
c. Through every miracle Jesus performed, God was
holding the Son’s hand.
d. Through every deliverance the Father provided for the
Son, the Father was holding the Son’s hand.
e. When in the garden, God sent angels to minister to
the Son, God was holding the Son’s hand.
f. And on the third day, when the angel descended, the
earth shook, the soldiers fainted, the rock rolled,
and the Son arose, God was holding the Son’s hand.
C. Just as the Father comforted the Son, so He comforts His
earthly children.
1. I am afraid you and I—like the Son—have some sorrows
that we must pass through.
2. However, unlike the Son, there will never be a day when
God will ever let go of our hands!
3. In our greatest sorrows, our greatest tragedies—even as
we endure the repercussion of our greatest mistakes—
if you have come to Christ, God will hold your hand!
III. "and will keep thee"
A. The Father kept the Son.
1. Some fear the Father will cast them away because they sin.
2. Have you ever considered that Jesus took every sinner’s
sin upon Him?
3. Every hideous, horrible, sickening sin.
4. But the Father didn’t cast the Son away.
5. He kept Him just like He promised.
B. By the way, the Father will keep you too.
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand.
John 6:27 …everlasting life….
1Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, which… hath begotten us…
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you,
5 Who are KEPT by the power of God through faith
unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time.
C. God does not promise to keep His from going through the trials
of this world, but He does promise to keep us while in the
trail of this world.
IV. "and give thee"
A. The context is Jesus being given to two groups of people.
1. The Jews as a fulfillment to first covenant and as a
Sacrifice to begin the second covenant.
2. The Gentiles as a light of salvation.
B. Hence, giving here means to use.
1. God gave Jesus in the sense that God used what Jesus did.
2. What Jesus did was not to be for nothing.
C. If you are in Christ, God promises to use you too.
1. He will use you to fulfill the promises He has already made.
2. And He will use you to be a light to others.
a. A light of His saving grace.
b. A light of His goodness, mercy, and love.
c. A light to help others - the lost, widows, orphans, the
homeless, the sick, the confused, the lonely.
There are the promises the Father made to the Son, but what the
Father has promised to the Son, I believe, He has also promised to us
It starts by heeding to that first call, the call of salvation. Would
you trust Jesus as your Savior today?
Closing: The famous Christian poetess, Francis Ridley Havergal, lay
on her death bed. She asked a friend to read her Scripture. The text
selected was Isaiah 42. When the friend finished reading these
verses, she stopped her, saying, "Called, held, kept, and used. Well,
I will just go Home on that." And she did go home on that.
<OutlineIndex>
<Close Window>
