(The Word for Today) Isaiah 42:1 - Part 1

Welcome to the Word for Today. The Word for Today is a continuous study of the Bible, taught by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently teaching from the Old Testament, and if you're following along in your Bible, we'll be continuing today in Isaiah chapter 42, beginning with verse 1, as we continue with an in-depth message entitled, The Servant of God.

Isaiah 42. God is drawing our attention, as He always does, to His servant. God declares, behold My servant.

Study, scrutinize, observe. My servant who I uphold, I support him, I'm behind him, I sustain him. Mine elect, My chosen one, in whom My soul delighted.

And so the description of God's servant, upheld by God, chosen by God, one who brought pleasure to God. I have put My Spirit upon him. Again, going back to Isaiah chapter 11, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord will make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, so that he will be able to judge righteously.

The other prophecy of the Messiah, actually it is the Messiah Himself speaking prophetically in Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach the good tidings to the meek. He has sent Me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to those that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

And how glorious it is for each of us to be able to bear witness of the fact that Jesus has opened the prison in which we were once bound, that prison of darkness, bound by the power of sin. Oh, how glorious to be set free. What marvelous freedom we have in Christ.

And that is a strange kind of a paradox that does exist, because there are people today who are talking about freedom. The American Civil Liberties Union, their whole desire is for freedom, freedom from religion, freedom from God, freedom of sex, freedom for pornography, freedom for all kinds of sexual expressions and desires, freedom for aberrant sexual experiences. And yet, there is no one that is more bound than those who are bound by their flesh.

There is no one who is less free. You tell me that that person who is on crack or that person on cocaine is free? You've got to be kidding. They're not free at all.

They are completely bound. I'm free. I don't have to have coke or crack or whatever.

I'm free. I don't have to pick up a cigarette. I don't have to take a drink.

I'm free. I'm the freest person you ever saw. And I love my freedom.

It's the person who has given himself over to these things that is really bound. And you start out doing them in the name of freedom. Well, yes, I want freedom.

And you start doing these things in the name of freedom. I'm free to do it. But yet, once you get started, soon you become bound.

And once you are bound, then you keep doing it, but not because you want to or like to, but because you have to. You're no longer free. You've become a slave.

And so, that marvelous freedom that we have in Jesus Christ through the power of his spirit. So God says, I delight in him. I've put my spirit upon him.

And through the power of that spirit, he has opened the prison to those that were bound. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Righteous judgment.

Jesus shall reign over the whole world. Not just over Israel, not over the Jews. His is a universal reign.

He's King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

He's not going to lift himself up. He isn't going to come with the great publicity campaign. And as you look at the life of Christ, he avoided so many times publicity.

There were many opportunities to sort of demonstrate and show off if he so desired his miraculous power. He could have used his powers for his own personal gain and benefit, but he did not. Even when he was before Pilate.

And Pilate didn't want to make a judgment. He sent him to Herod, who happened to be in the area at the time. And Herod was thrilled because he had heard about Jesus.

He had heard all these stories about the miracles that Jesus did. And he wanted to see some kind of miraculous thing. And so he sort of challenged Jesus, you know, do something, show me something, do a miracle.

And Jesus wouldn't even speak to him. Now, Jesus could have done some kind of a miracle and astounded Herod and Herod would say, hey, let him go. But Jesus wouldn't use his miraculous powers for his own personal benefit.

That was suggested by Satan in the beginning. Hey, turn this stone into bread, feed yourself, use your powers for yourself, for your own personal gain. No.

Man shall not live by bread alone. Jump off the pinnacle of the temple, demonstrate your powers. Let the people be amazed as you'll land there on the ground, you know, full tack, no problems.

And then also even offering him the glories of the kingdoms of the world. But Jesus ministry for the most part was on an individual basis in the close-knit group of the disciples or within the synagogue, within the temple, within the home or by the seashore on the mountainside. But he didn't go out of his way to seek publicity.

In fact, he sought rather to avoid it. He will not cry nor lift up, exalt himself nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A little bit of the character and the nature of the Messiah.

A bruised reed shall he not break. The bruised reed was a crushed reed that had become bent over. They are rather brittle.

They grow in abundance around the Jordan River, around the Nile and going through them. They're sort of top heavy anyhow, and they easily break crushed and are broken. But a bruised reed shall he not break.

Of course, it's a reference to that person whose life is crushed by the weight of the world and by the weight of sin. And when that sinful person comes to Jesus Christ, he doesn't break them, he restores them. To completeness, the Lord isn't wanting to break you, he isn't wanting to destroy you.

The Lord is wanting to save you, to heal you, to mend you. The bruised reed he will not break. And the smoking flax shall he not quench.

That is that little wick in the little oil light. The oil has run out, and so the flame has gone out, and there's just the smoke now from the wick. It's acrid, it's irritating.

And the natural thing is just go over and pinch it, put the smoke out, cause it to quit smoking. But he will put new oil in the vessel and bring the flame back into full brilliance. That person whose love and passion for God has waned there's no longer that fire burning in their hearts.

Their experience can be likened to just a smoking flax. There's the remnant there of past blessings, but the fire is gone. As Jesus said to Ephesus, thou has left thy first love.

That dynamic of the first love, that flame of passion is gone. And that person comes to Christ and he restores the flame, restores the fire. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth or true judgment.

And oh God, how we need true judgment today. And he will not fail nor be discouraged till he has set judgment in the earth and the coastlands shall wait for his law. I so often get discouraged when I look at the world, when I look at the conditions of the world, when I see the inequities of the world.

I often am discouraged. I think, oh Lord, how long? Lord, get me out of here. I don't belong here.

And it looks to me like evil is triumphing. It looks to me like the forces of darkness are more powerful than the forces of light. And they seem to prevail in so many cases that are brought before the courts and all.

And I think, oh Lord. And I get so discouraged in my idealism, in hoping for real justice and real righteousness. But he will not be discouraged until he has accomplished his purpose, until he has established true justice here on the earth and has set judgment in the earth.

And thus saith God, Jehovah, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and that which comes out of it, that is all of the plant life that comes out of the earth. He that gives breath unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein. God over and over throughout the whole Bible is acknowledged as the creator, creator of the earth, creator of the heavens, creator of the life forms within the earth, creator of man, the sustainer of man.

He gives breath to man, puts spirit within man. God is speaking. And whenever God speaks, he usually announces himself as the creator.

And this is another discouraging thing. Send your children to the public school and they are taught that they are an accident. They were not created.

Matter upon matter over, now it's 20 billion years, has brought forth this marvelous, marvelous instrument. How can a sane person look at the body and the functions of the body? Look at how the DNA can store the memories. Look how the blood stream and the operates.

Look how even your breath, God said, and I give breath to man and just your breath itself. The cells of your body need oxygen in order to function. They burn the oxygen light like a car burns gasoline, your cells burn oxygen.

And like your car, when it is burned, the gasoline gives off a carbon monoxide gas as the result of the combustion. So your body gives off carbon dioxide gas as a result of the burning of the oxygen in the cells. And thus there has to be a discharge of the carbon dioxide and a fresh supply of oxygen for the cells.

So God has designed this whole beautiful system of the lungs and your capacity to breathe in the air. And from this 79 parts of nitrogen and 20 parts of oxygen, your lungs take that oxygen and it sort of spreads it out over the lungs. And the blood comes pumping into your lungs from the heart.

And the blood discharges all of the carbon dioxide that it's picked up all of the garbage, the carbon dioxide gases that it's picked up as it's gone through your whole system in each cell. And it deposits that carbon dioxide in your lungs. And as it goes through, it takes the oxygen that has just been brought into your lungs by that deep breath.

And it goes back into the heart and down through the cells, resupplying them with oxygen and on the return trip, picking up the carbon dioxide. Now, when you do a little exercise, do your aerobics, you're using more oxygen, the cells are working harder. And so they're burning up more oxygen.

So what happens? Your lungs start working faster. Your heart starts beating faster because you have to get more oxygen to those cells that are sloughing off the carbon dioxide. You got to keep the cells functioning properly.

And so you start now, do you think that, well, I'm really been running hard. I better really start breathing harder. No, you don't even think about that.

Why? Because your lungs are involuntary muscles. You have voluntary muscles and involuntary muscles. Your voluntary muscles are attached to the skeleton of your body and they are operated by a command from the brain.

You say to your hand, move, it moves. But of course, there's quite a functioning actually, because the brain not only tells your hand to move, but it tells your arm and the elbow and everything. I mean, it just, you know, and it says, clench your fist, you know, in their voluntary muscles and they're controlled by the brain, but you have your involuntary muscles, your heart, your lungs, because you see your life depends on your heart and your lungs.

The sustaining of life depends on the heart and the lungs. You know, you can live without clenching your fist. You can live with a withered arm, but you can't live without your heart pumping and your lungs working.

So those muscles of your body that are important for the sustaining of life, God keeps control of those. He lets you control your other muscles that can get you in trouble or do things for you. But those muscles upon which your life depends, God keeps control of those muscles so that you don't have to think.

Heart beat, lungs work. They're involuntary muscles that operate without a conscious thought patterns from the brain. Marvelous, marvelous the way God has created us.

And to think that that could have all just evolved over a matter of time by mutations and all is just ridiculous. And yet that's what they are. And that's where I get discouraged.

I think, oh God, you know, it's so insane to try to propose that all of this came about by these fortuitous concurrences of accidental circumstances. It's crazy. Thus saith the Lord, Yehovah, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, put the stars up there, even in the form of a cross and an opening in the clouds.

I love it. He that spread forth the earth and that which comes out of it, the plant life, the marvels of the plant life. Oh, amazing.

Each seed with the genetic code within it, with all of the potential for the development of that same plant. Marvelous. Pastor Chuck Smith will return with a few closing comments.

But first I'd like to remind you that today's message is available in its unedited form on cassette or CD. Simply write or call and ask for ordering details on tape or CD number C 3261. Again, that's tape or CD number C 3261.

As we come to a close in today's program, we'd like to recommend a resource just for women. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas, buying presents, decorating, cooking, the list grows longer every day. Without realizing it, we can easily forget the true meaning of why we celebrate our Lord's birth.

For this reason, the word for today presents a season of joy, an audio Bible study that reflects the true meaning of Christmas hosted by Kay Smith, wife of Pastor Chuck. Kay reminds us to spend time at the Lord's feet, despite our busy schedules. Guest speakers also include Elizabeth Elliott, Sheila Walsh, and Marge Caldwell, exhorting us to remember that it's through Jesus Christ that our season of joy can be peaceful and complete.

Also ask about Pastor Chuck Smith's tract entitled, How Can a Man Be Born Again? Available in both Spanish and English, this would make the perfect addition to Christmas cards or gifts. To order your copy of A Season of Joy and How Can a Man Be Born Again, call the word for today at 1-800-272-WORD or write to us at P.O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California 92628. And remember the word for today would like to assist you this Christmas in spreading the gospel of Jesus to your family, friends, and coworkers.

Please call our customer service department to help you in finding that perfect gift that will reflect the true meaning of Christmas. And if you call right now and mention this radio ad, the word for today will give you a 20% discount on any resource carried by the word for today. Once again, that number to call is 1-800-272-9673.

And for those of you that would like to visit our website, you can do so at www.twft.com. Or if you'd like to email us, you can do so at info at twft.com. Well, coming up next time on the word for today, Pastor Chuck will be continuing his fascinating study through the book of Isaiah. That's coming up next time on the word for today. And now with a few closing comments, here is Pastor Chuck.

Now God says, consider this, look at the thing, consider this, because it is a pattern of man that is followed over and over again. You call upon God, he delivers. You forsake God, you get in trouble again.

You call upon God, he helps. You forsake God, but there comes the time when you can exhaust the patience even of an infinite God. A time when you're snared, a time when you go into this prison, a time when you become a spoil and are robbed.

Therefore, he has poured out the fury of his anger and the strength of battle. You've been set on fire round about, yet you don't know you were burned. You didn't lay it to heart.

You didn't realize it's because we've turned our backs on God.