You may turn in your Bibles to the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 49 to be specific. Taking one more week from our exposition in the Minor Prophets, and God willing we'll return to Zechariah next week. I wanted to look at what's called the Second Servant Song. of the prophet Isaiah. There are four songs, four passages in the prophet that speak specifically concerning the servant of the Lord, which is Jesus Christ.
Those servant songs are found in Isaiah 42, verses 1-9. Isaiah 49, 1-13, which we'll look at this evening. Isaiah 50, verses 4-11. And then perhaps the one that is most familiar to us in Isaiah 52.12, through 53.12, that passage that deals with the substitutionary atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, Isaiah 49, I'll begin reading in verse 1. Listen, O coastlands, to me, and take heed, you peoples, from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb. From the matrix of my mother He has made mention of my name.
And He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of His hand He has hidden me and made me a polished shaft. In His quiver He has hidden me. And He said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
Then I said, I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain. Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord and my work with my God. And now the Lord says, Who formed me from the womb to be His servant. to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him.
For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength." Indeed, he says, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the servant of rulers. Kings shall see and arise.
Princes also shall worship because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and He has chosen you. Thus says the Lord, in an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. I will preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages, that you may say to the prisoners, go forth. To those who are in darkness, show yourselves.
They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them. For he who has mercy on them will lead them. Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
I will make each of My mountains a road, and My highways shall be elevated. Surely these shall come from afar. Look, those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinai. Sing, O heavens, be joyful, O earth, and break out in singing, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted His people and will have mercy on His afflicted.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, if you do any reading outside of the Bible, any modern Christian literature, you will have seen the term missional used quite frequently within the last several years. To be missional means to be mindful of the people around. to seek to be a missionary within your neighborhoods, to be evangelistic, and all those sorts of things. Well, I read something a few months ago that the churches that speak the most about being missional have forgotten global missions. In other words, we should think about those in our neighborhoods, we should think about those in our cities, but we really should think about those in the other parts of the world.
And that's not typical only for some within evangelicalism, but it's probably true of us also. We get into ruts. We stop thinking globally. Very often we're just plain outright selfish.
We look no further than to our own current situation, our own current needs, what we may be going through. Well, Isaiah 49, in the second servant's song, calls us to consider missions. It calls us to consider the cause of Jesus Christ throughout the earth. And I want to bring this message to us tonight so that we'll have a renewed vigor in our prayer for those missionaries that we sponsor, for those men that are laboring in the Word and Doctrine in other parts of the world, that you will take an active interest in what's going on throughout the earth, that you will pray for countries, that you will pray for the persecuted church, that you will pray for those who have been set apart and equipped by churches to go forth and to plant churches in foreign lands, to go where it is oftentimes difficult to go, to leave the comforts perhaps of the world that we are accustomed to with all of the amenities and all of the blessings, to leave all that behind and to go to a nation where you're not well received, where it is very tough and very difficult.
Well, we need to pray for people. We need to be mindful. We need to be conscious, not only of missionalism within our own cities and our own people groups, but we need to be mindful of global missions. We need to be thinking in terms of Christ's Kingdom.
We need to be thinking in terms of the big picture. Remember this morning in Galatians 1.5. We see that the redemptive plan is according to the will of God. We are part of a much larger whole.
And I find this to be a great antidote to our selfishness, and to our introspection, and to our me-centeredness. We need to lift up our eyes. We need to behold the fields white unto harvest. We need to realize that the kingdom of Jesus Christ is far more extensive than what is represented in this room.
And this second servant song of Isaiah certainly functions in that capacity. It promotes in our understanding a big Christ and a big mission that He is on. And I hope as well that you will take seriously Isaac Watts' hymn. We sang it in 271.
It ought to be a part of our prayer life. To pray, pity the nations, O our God, constrain the earth to come. Send Thy victorious Word abroad and bring the strangers home. We need to be others-minded, others-oriented, and the prayer closet will certainly reflect this commitment to the Bible and to the goal of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, there are three main portions in the section that we read. There is, first of all, the call of the servant in verses 1 to 3. There is, secondly, the mission of the servant in verses 4 to 12. And then, of course, a doxology.
We saw this this morning in verse 5 of Galatians 1. After considering the redemptive plan of God, Paul is led to praise and to honor God. Well, the same is true with Isaiah. As he considers the redemptive plan of God and the function of the servant of the Lord, it leads him to call upon the heavens, to call upon the earth, to break out in singing mountains.
And there is a reason given, and it is gospel-oriented, for the Lord has comforted His people and will have mercy on His afflicted.
The Call of the Servant
Notice, first of all, the call of the servant. This is a universal declaration. Sometimes in the church, we think our Lord Jesus is sort of a ghetto deity. He's only the God of the church.
Well, that's simply not the case. Jesus Christ reigns. and rules at the right hand of God Most High. Jesus Christ has authority, all authority, in heaven and on earth. The Lord Jesus Christ exercises sovereign rule and sovereign reign over things seen and unseen, over those who submit to His will and those who do not submit to His will.
It's not as if the atheist or the humanist or the secularist somehow doesn't have to listen to the things concerning Christ. Notice in verse 1, Listen, O close lands, to me, and take heed, you peoples from afar. That ought to be the heartbeat of the church of Jesus Christ, issuing that summons to the coastlands and to the peoples afar. You need to take heed to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You need to give attention to the servant of the Lord. You need to pay attention to what God has communicated or revealed to humanity. This song highlights the servant's relationship to the nations of the earth. When we get to the book of Revelation, we'll see that the Lamb's mission involved men from every tribe and tongue and people in Asia.
The Lord Jesus Christ is concerned for this world. God did so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That doesn't mean that every single human being in the world is going to be saved, but the world system, God actually cares about it. We as Christians ought to actually care about it.
We really should pray. We really should be concerned that men hear the Gospel. That men give heed to the Gospel. If it's not us that can go to these foreign lands, it's us that can pray them into these foreign lands.
And brethren, this text calls us to consider this.
Identification of the Servant
Notice secondly, the identification of the servant. Verses 1B to 2. There are three things the prophet asserts.
The Servant as Man
The first is that he would be a man. The servant of the Lord, the champion of Israel, would in fact be a man. Notice, the Lord has called me from the womb, from the matrix of my mother, He has made mention of my name. Their Deliverer, their Savior, as the prophet is prophesying in the 7th century B.C., would come from the Virgin's womb, Isaiah 7.14.
He would be the One that Isaiah prophesied concerning in Isaiah 9. He would be a Son given unto us. The government would be laid upon His shoulders. His name would be Wonderful Counselor.
His name would be Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father. They were supposed to be looking forward to the God-man who would come in the fullness of the times to save His people from their sins. So this highlights the incarnation, or at least captures the reality that our Redeemer would be man.
The Servant as Prophet
Notice, secondly, He would be a prophet. Notice in verse 2, And He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. That's the weapon of Christ's warfare. He doesn't come with military might.
It's not like, I understand Rambo was filmed here. I know when I was a kid, I saw that. I found out Rambo was filmed not far from Chilliwack. You know, he's got all these bullets and he's got the big guns.
That's not how Jesus comes. Jesus doesn't come driving a tank. Jesus doesn't come in an Apache helicopter. Jesus doesn't fly an F-16.
The weapons of His warfare are the sword that proceeds from His mouth. It is the Word of the living God. This Word is powerful. This Word is living.
This Word is active according to Hebrews 4.12. It pierces right down to the thoughts and intentions of men. This is predicated or stated about Jesus several times in the book of Revelation. In fact, you can turn to Revelation 1 and verse 16.
Revelation depicts the war in Christ. The Christ who comes in judgment and the Christ who comes in blessing. And the means by which He accomplishes His task is that Word that proceeds from His mouth. He has made My mouth like a sharp sword." Notice in Revelation 1.16, He had in His right hand seven stars.
Out of His mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword. And His countenance was like the sun, shining in its strength. Again in chapter 2, verse 16, Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. What's He saying?
That His Word The integrity of His Gospel is that by which the churches stand or fall. If they continue to entertain the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, then He will take that word and He will fight against them and shut them down and remove their lampstand from them. 1915, perhaps one of the most vivid displays of the warrior Christ. Revelation 19 and verse 15. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations.
And he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, the King of kings and the Lord of lords." And then again in 1921, And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh." So this is announced way back in the second servant song of the prophet Isaiah. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword.
John Calvin comments, Christ has therefore been appointed by the Father. not to rule after the manner of princes by the force of arms and by surrounding himself with other external defenses to make himself an object of terror to his people, but his whole authority consists in doctrine." There's that word again, that pesky word that we often use in this church. Doctrine is crucial. Doctrine is vital. If we don't know doctrine, we are Christ's enemies.
He goes on to say, "...in the preaching of which he wishes to be sought and acknowledged, for nowhere else will he be found." So, the servant is identified as a man, he's identified as a prophet, and it's said that he will come in God's time. Now, at the time the prophet Isaiah wrote, they would have wanted a deliverer. I mean, it was getting close to the time when Babylon would come in and destroy the southern tribes. I mean, things were bleak in Isaiah's time.
Certainly, we need deliverance. Certainly, we need a champion. Certainly, we need victory and vindication right now. Well, that wasn't God's intention.
This was about 700 years before the coming of the Lord Jesus. It jives with what we read in Galatians 4.4. In the fullness of the times, God sent forth His Son. Remember, it is according to the will of God.
It's not dictated by our need. It's not dictated by our desire. It's not that we want Him right now. It's when God Most High would send Him forth.
And then notice very specifically the purpose of God in verse 3, in this call of the servant. He was to fulfill covenant promises. He said to me, you are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Why is Jesus called Israel?
In fact, some have mistakenly taken this to reflect the nation of Israel. Well, remember, before Israel was a nation, it was an individual. It was Jacob. Then it became a nation. and a nation that failed to fulfill the plan of God.
Remember, God called them to be a kingdom of priests. God called them to mediate His blessings to the nations around them. They certainly failed. Christ did not fail.
He is all that Israel was supposed to be. Christ is victorious. Remember that Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, given to every temptation, murmuring and grumbling and complaining against God. Well, the true Israel, our Lord Jesus in the wilderness, tempted by the devil, never once succumbed to that.
Jesus as Israel fulfilled the very covenant that God had given Him. And God says, in whom I will be glorified. So that is the context of the call of the servant.
The Mission of the Servant
Now notice the mission of the servant. That's spelled out vividly in verses 5 to 12. But there's a couple things to notice in verse 4.
The Servant's Discouragement and Resolve
Notice his discouragement. Remember when I first studied this and I first preached this, I really liked this. Not that God needs me to like his word for it to be true. You know, it can be discouraging to be a pastor.
It can be discouraging to be an evangelist. It can be discouraging when you witness to people. It can be discouraging when you're trying to be a Christian in a non-Christian world. I mean, you don't normally meet with a lot of approval.
I mean, just imagine, tomorrow morning you go to work and you come there and you tell everybody about a Bible passage that you read this morning. Or let me just share with you, morning and evening, from C.H. Spurgeon. Let me just tell you what I...
You think your workmates are going to go, yeah, please, tell us what you have to say. Just let us hear Spurgeon. Let me get another donut so I can sit and listen to what Spurgeon... In fact, just read Spurgeon.
That's not how it works, is it? There's a lot of discouragement in the Christian life in terms of rejection. Well, that's what the servant says. Notice in verse 4.
Then I said, I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain. You might look at that. You might stumble a bit.
You might say, this is Jesus. You mean Jesus actually was discouraged? Jesus actually says this sort of a thing? Yes!
What does the prophet say of him later in Isaiah 53? Look at Isaiah 53, verse 3. He is despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. Now, we totally uphold the deity of Jesus Christ. We also uphold the humanity of Jesus Christ.
Humans like to be accepted. Humans like to be liked. Humans like to get along with people. Why wouldn't it have been discouraging for Him?
Why would it be despising and being rejected just to make Him say, well, that's okay. No. Remember John 1.9? What does the Apostle say concerning Jesus?
He came to His own and His own received Him not. Remember, as He's closing in on Jerusalem, He just pronounces woes upon the scribes and the Pharisees. And then what does He do? He cries.
The Lord Jesus weeps over the city that would crucify Him. Why? Because He was rejected. How often?
I wanted to gather you up like a hen gathers her chicks, but you were not willing. The Lord Jesus ached. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And that is captured there in Isaiah 49.
He says, Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, number 27, says that Christ's humiliation consisted in His being born and that in a low condition. made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross, in being buried and continuing under the power of death for a time. He didn't just bounce around through the earth singing. He wasn't some character from a play, just whistling and having birds attending to his every need.
No, he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I think Lloyd-Jones said he probably never smiled. I don't agree with that. Not that I'm going against the holy doctor Lloyd-Jones, but I think he probably smiled.
You know, little children were not afraid to approach him. He wasn't this austere, vicious sort of man that children would be afraid of. When he needed a child for an illustration, he could take one and put him in his lap. He did rejoice in the Spirit when those 70 returned from that preaching tour, when he praised and thanked his Father for blessing his servants.
So I think it is a stretch to say he never smiled, but the reality is he was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. I find this to be encouraging. Not in some sick, weird, twisted way, but you know what? If you're discouraged, if you're tried, if there's difficulty, you're in good company.
What does Paul the Apostle go through in his Christian life? He goes through a lot of opposition. He goes through a lot of rejection. What did Spurgeon go through?
We often remember Spurgeon as the prince of preachers. He was an opposed man. People hated him. I mean, he had a church that loved him and flocked to him, but he had a lot of grief and a lot of trials and a lot of difficulties.
Same thing with Calvin. Same thing with Luther. I mean, when you traverse the Jesus way, you will be opposed. It's just the way it is.
If they oppose the Master, they're certainly going to oppose the servant. So find comfort in this passage. You can identify with your Lord in this reality. But notice that the Lord doesn't stay there.
Herein lies our problem. We get discouraged. We get downcast and we stay there. You're not supposed to stay there.
You're supposed to hope in God. You're supposed to look to His mercy. You're supposed to say, yet surely my just reward is with the Lord and my work with my God. There may be discouragement, but there is a resolve in God that He will make things right.
And that's precisely what the servant says. The Lord Jesus never lost His confidence in the power of His Father and the efficacy of His promise. He never lost confidence in the fact that God was with Him, that God would see Him through these things, that God would sustain Him. His meat was to do the will of His Father in spite of rejection, in spite of opposition, in spite of the sorrows.
He was a man of resolve. In fact, in the Servant Song in Isaiah 50, He says He sets His face like a flint. That's what he does in Luke 9. He sets his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem.
He is steadfast. He is not going to be put off of his course. He is going to pursue, he is going to fulfill the calling that the Father has given unto him. He says in Luke 22, 42, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me.
Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Now, brethren, don't let this make you uncomfortable. Certainly, we don't want to say that Jesus sinned. He didn't.
He was impeccable. He was holy, harmless, and without sin. But He was true human, true man. We don't deny that one bit.
He wasn't an apparition. He wasn't just a phantom. He didn't just appear for a time and then vanish. He was a real man.
He was the real God-man. And He had sorrows, and He had trials, and He had His opposers, and He had His difficulties. He felt compassion. He felt anger.
He was grieved. All those things were true of the Son of God. This just enriches our understanding of our beloved Savior.
Scope and Goals of the Mission
And then the mission is spelled out, as I said, verses 5 to 12. And now, verse 5, the Lord says, "...who formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring back Jacob to Him so that Israel is gathered to Him." The salvation of Israel. That's one of His goals. That's one of His functions.
In fact, Jesus says this when He comes. Matthew 10, I believe it is. He says, I have come to preach to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation.
For everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Jesus comes to save Israel. Jesus comes to save those to whom the original covenant promises were given. But he doesn't stop there.
The covenant promises included more than just Israel. And that's the point of verse six. Notice it says, indeed, he says, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth.
It's too small. It's not enough. It doesn't demonstrate the power of Christ when He just saves Israel. He must save Gentiles as well.
Ladies, imagine that you're a crack cook. You're a good chef. You're really able in the kitchen. You're going to have somebody come over.
You don't just make macaroni and cheese. Let's face it. You don't pull Kraft dinner out and throw it in the pan and boil the water and mix up the goo, pour it on there and sort of spin it around and say, here you go. Does that demonstrate your skill?
Does it demonstrate your power and ability in the kitchen? Can you say, look at the bounty that I have constructed here? People are going to look at you and go, what? Whoa.
Sorry, but this is Kraft Dinner. It's not even that good. What are you going to do? You're going to make a big meal.
You're going to have various courses. You're going to have hors d'oeuvres. You're going to have nice beverages. You're going to have the place set properly.
You're going to plate the food in such a way that everybody will just be so dazzled. They don't even want to eat it because it looks so good. You've got the meat. You've got the veggies.
You've got all things constructed and orderly. And then once that's all done, then you wheel in some great dessert. What's that do? It showcases your ability as a cook or as a chef.
That's what's going on. Not quite the same, but that's what's kind of going on in this passage. It's too small for the Son of God to save one tribe of men. I will give Him as a light unto the Gentiles.
I will display my salvation to the very ends of the earth. This showcases, this highlights, this demonstrates His power, His efficacy, and His ability. This is why we sing, pity the nations, oh our God, and constrain the earth to come. He didn't just come to Palestine, He came to the world.
He came to save man from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He is to receive glory from all peoples everywhere. God is to be seen as supreme and alone Savior for sinners. That's what's going on in this passage.
Indeed, he says, verse 6, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles. that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth." The salvation of Israel. Salvation of Gentiles. Demonstration of God's salvation globally to the ends of the earth.
Why should we be missions minded? Why should we care about Haiti? Why should we care about the Middle East? Because God cares.
That's why. And then as well, the submission of rulers. Verse 7, Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise. Princes also shall worship because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and He has chosen you.
The restoration of the earth. Notice in verse 8, In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you." This is quoted by Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Notice, I will preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people to restore the earth. Now, this ultimately comes to fruition in the new heavens and the newer.
This ultimately lies in our future. But God now is gathering men from all corners of the earth to assemble a glorious church.
Justification and Sanctification of Sinners
The justification of sinners, verse 9, that you may say to the prison, go forth to those who are in darkness, show yourselves. We saw this morning in our study in the Confession, specifically Isaiah 61. Pastor Cam pointed out, Jesus' mission wasn't to come and open the jail door for some prisoner to get out. The language here is suggestive of justification.
Freedom from sin, pardon from iniquity, the imputation of righteousness, and then the sanctification of sinners. Verses 10 to 12. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them. For he who has mercy on them will lead them.
Even by the springs of water He will guide them. I will make each of My mountains a road, and My highways shall be elevated. Surely these shall come from afar. Look, those from the north and the west, and these from the land of Sinai.
God sanctifies His people. He guides them. He leads them. He directs them.
He brings them to the springs of water so that they may feast and honor Him.
Doxology
And as we saw, it ends with doxology. Verse 13, Sing, O heavens, be joyful, O earth, and break out in singing, O mountains. For the Lord has comforted His people and will have mercy on His afflicted.
Application: Christ's Mission Is the Church's Mission
Well, the servant song here reflects A very mature Christology. Jesus is our prophet, Jesus is our priest, and Jesus is our king, according to this second servant song. But this second servant song also speaks to missions and evangelism. In fact, it's quite foundational to missions, really.
This is one of the passages that Simeon alluded to in Luke chapter 2. Kind of an obscure man, we've just read about him in our church within the last couple of weeks. Simeon is that man who saw Mary, and Mary and Joseph were bringing the babe Christ to the temple to dedicate him. Simeon grabs the baby, not grabs in a violent, vicious sort of way, but in a very rejoicing and happy way.
He grabs the child, he grabs the son, and he begins to praise and honor the Lord God Almighty. And this is what he says in Luke 2, verse 29. He says, Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace according to Your Word. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all peoples.
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. That's Isaiah 49.6. If you remember a couple of weeks ago in our evening service, we traced Paul's first missionary journey. It forms the backdrop or background for the epistle to the Galatians.
Remember that when Paul and Barnabas are preaching in Pisidian Antioch, they meet with rejection and opposition from the Jews. They go to a synagogue. They preach the Lord Jesus. The Jews basically reject them.
Paul takes this passage, Isaiah 49.6, and he says, this is what we're about. Paul says, verse 46, "...then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, It was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth." You see there, Christ's mission is the church's mission.
We are to define our existence. We are to define our role consistent with what Jesus does. Jesus has a heart for Gentiles. We should have a heart for Gentiles.
If Jesus is concerned about global missions, we should be concerned about global missions. If we are going to be consistent with the apostolic church, then we must take seriously gospel missions. God, Calvin says, yet God intends to express something more. This comment on Isaiah 49, something more that notwithstanding the efforts of Satan and all wicked men, the power of God will be victorious so that Christ shall triumph gloriously and the majesty of God shall shine forth in his gospel.
It's a great thought, a great sentiment. I think oftentimes rejection and opposition can dull us, can deaden us, can cause inactivity to set in. We've tried, we've preached, we've prayed, we've labored and nobody wants to hear it. No, we need to press on.
We need to be faithful. C. H. Spurgeon said, so as the Lord has sent Jesus to be a light, you may be sure that he means to open blind eyes.
Jesus will enlighten the people. Souls will be saved. God has set His King upon the holy hill of Zion, and He has not set Him there for a king without intending to give Him a kingdom. Makes sense.
God will not allow His Son to be a Savior who never saves, a Redeemer who does not redeem. We need to hear the claim of Christ or the declaration of Christ in Matthew 16, 18. I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The servant says that based on a lot of things, but one of those is the prophetic Word that has given the marching orders for the Son of God.
I just wanted to read you a bit of a clip from a letter received from Keith Maddy. I just saw this today and it sure seemed to fit. Keith Maddy is one of the men helping out in Haiti. In fact, they've formed a group called Baptist Churches Serving Haiti.
They're located in Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic. They have an office there. They go to Haiti to minister and all that sort of thing. Well, they've had a pastor's conference, which right there ought to just cause us to stand amazed.
A pastor's conference in the wake of this tragedy? You mean you're not giving them food and giving them water and, you know, clearing away rubble? You're going to sit and actually gather pastors together and instruct them in doctrine? Yes.
Because those pastors are then going to go back and instruct their people in doctrine. And hopefully, God willing, they'll rebuild in a right and proper way, having received the truth. But here's what he said. Saturday session opened with a significantly larger number of pastors eager and observably focused on the preaching.
The greater number is possibly attributed to the Saturday time frame and that those from Friday who shared with others and invited them. This is no overstatement. God richly poured out his spirit upon both preachers and hearers. Both Pastor Sugell Michelin, Pastor Francisco Guzman, and their translators seemed to have unusual unction and help for the messages.
They were both received with audible affirmations and intense interest. I would love to see intense interest amongst the body of pastors here in Canada for Reformed truth. Not intense interest in how we can be a better this, or how we can get more people. but how we can accurately expound the truth of the living God. That makes me encouraged.
He goes on to say, the Q&A session was lively and extended. Pastor Sugel spoke on the transfiguration of Christ and gave us all a sight of the Savior who had His own glory derived from Himself. He did all things for the glory of God and for the benefit of His disciples. I mean, come on, brethren.
Who right now is in Haiti preaching on the transfiguration of Christ? Men that understand that people need the whole counsel of God. That's who. He goes on to say, first the cross, then the glory was the repeated application.
Pastor Francisco Guzman spoke with great power on Nehemiah 2, 1-8. Nehemiah had a faith that was bold and brave, which accepted great challenges and was willing to make big requests and decisions. He knew more about some of the things going on in Haiti with some unfaithful, self-serving, advantage-taking pastors. His applications were powerful.
The great things that can be done with limited resources was one of his striking observations. He said, we're all preaching in the churches on the Lord's Day. Please remember the pastors, Guzman, Michelin, and Saladin, as well as Keith Maddy and Jack Perry and their translators. We cannot thank you for all the prayers.
We really want a revival breakout of true biblical religion in Haiti. May God be thanked, praised, and glorified. Love, Keith Maddy. Well, he can write that because the prophet Isaiah wrote the second servant song in Isaiah 49.
It is too small a thing for Jesus to save the tribes of Jacob. I am giving you as a light unto the Gentiles, and that includes the nation of Haiti. Well, brethren, let us make our prayer consistent with what we find in the Scripture. And if you don't know this servant, believe the Gospel and you will be saved.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and He will forgive you of all of your sins. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your Word, and we thank you for the prophetic Word, and for the testimony of the Old Testament concerning the mission of Jesus Christ. How we thank you for the work going on in Haiti. We pray for those brothers who have preached already today. We ask that you would have blessed their preaching, that you would have blessed the hearing, and that men would receive the true Word of God, and believe, and repent, and know the joy of being found in Him.
We pray for gospel preaching throughout the world and for gospel missions. We think of the Hamiltons and the Santiagos and Compiers in China. We think of the Paps in Uganda. We think of our brethren, Lord God, who have left the comforts in the Western world or in the North America and have gone to places where there are such trials and challenges.
And we just commit them to you and we pray that they would be encouraged, that they would be built up and strengthened, that they would have that resolve in God Most High. and that they would do their work as unto the Lord. We ask now that you would go with each one of us and we pray that you would just bless our step, grant us opportunity to speak the truth in love to those with whom we come into contact. And we ask in Jesus' name, Amen.