Tony Perkins

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning, welcome to stand on the word today. Our
journey takes us to Isaiah chapters forty two and forty three,
but we're going to focus on chapter forty two. We're
going to save chapter forty three for next time because
it goes better with chapter forty four. It's kind of
a singular narrative. Verse four, Chapter forty two. He will
not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice

(00:32):
in the earth, and the coastland shall wait for his law.
Here in chapter forty two we have a clear, unmistakable
reference to the Messiah, the Chosen One, first describing here
his characteristics. Then we look at the content of his commission,
for his mission, the celebration this revelation brings to all

(00:54):
the world, and then the final conquering of the kingdom
of darkness. And then we also look at the consequences
for those who choose not to believe. Verse one, Chapter
forty two. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my elect
one in whom my soul delights. I have put my
spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the gentiles.

(01:17):
Now in this first verse there is a lot packed
into that. This first verse carries us from Genesis to revelation.
Whereasays my elect or chosen one, chosen before the foundation
of the earth, before creation, God was, and he had
already established the means of atonement for the world before

(01:40):
it was created. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah,
was not an afterthought. He was not plan B. It
was the plan from the beginning, to bring justice or
judgment through the Gospel to all the world. Now we
are confident that the passage makes reference to Jesus. Why

(02:02):
how are we so confidence? Well, Matthew chapter twelve applies
it to Jesus verse two. He will not cry out,
nor raise his voice, nor cause his voice to be
heard in the street. A bruised reed, he will not
break a smoking flack, he will not quench. He will
bring forth justice for truth. Now Matthew gives this passage

(02:27):
a clearer meaning, as he writes, he will send forth
judgment unto victory. Truth has within itself is what Matthew
is communicating. Truth has within itself the elements of victory
over all opposition. Victory may not be immediate, but it
is assured. Verse four. He will not fail nor be

(02:48):
discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and
the coastline shall wait for his law. Now in this
we have, in these first four verses we have the
description Hi Messiah of Jesus, and a model for those
who will follow him. Number one, He's a servant chosen
or called by God, delighted in by God. He has

(03:11):
the spirit of God. Number five, he is humble without fanfare.
Number six gentle in spirit, desiring sins sinners to repent.
Seven he strengthens the weak. Eight He discouragement will not
stop him. He will not fail to accomplish the mission
the Father has given him. Verse five. Thus says God,

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the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit
to those who walk on it. He's the creator. By
the Lord, have called you in righteousness and will hold
your hand. I will keep you and give you as

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a covenant to the people, as a light to the gentiles,
to open blind eyes, to bring out prison from the prison,
those who sit in darkness from the prison house. So
what is this mission that the Messiah Jesus has been given.
Number one, Bring justice, that is the Gospel. Make truth
prevail justice in all the earth that is the Kingdom

(04:17):
of God, and take his law, that is the Gospel
to the gentiles. We see this in the Old Testament.
The gospel was to go to all men. It is
for everyone. And look at this. Another fifth thing is
to open the eyes of the blind and set the
prisoner free. Now we're thinking of someone who is confined

(04:38):
in a prison, talking about the prison of sin and death.
We our eyes are open to the truth, and the
bars that bind us, that confine us, are removed and opened.
Verse eight. I am the Lord. That is my name
and my glory. I will not give to another nor

(04:59):
my praise carved images. All right, So speaking now to
the people, God validates this message with his name Jehovah.
That's who I am. And he goes again to the
issue of idolatry. We see this repeatedly. So we need
to pay close attention to these issues, to these passages

(05:21):
that discuss idolatry, anything that takes the place of God first.
And I behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I declare before they spring forth, I
tell you of them. Now, how do we know God
will do these things, all right, When he's talking about
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, the millennial, How do

(05:42):
we know he's going to do these things? One he
said he would, but two, he says, look at the
fulfillment of past promises. The past is the assurance of
the future. What God said he would do, he will do.
First and sing to the Lord a new song and
his prayer from the ends of the earth, You who
go down to the sea and all that is in it,

(06:03):
you coastlands, and you inhabitants of them. The new song
accompanies a new thing. Taking the Gospel to the world
is a reason to sing praises to God from one
end of the earth to the other. Now, don't read
these next few verses. If you've bought into the twenty
first century remake of God, you know the idea that

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God is his love, that he is like this cosmic
teddy bear. Yes, I mean to be certain God is love.
But we know his love and appreciate his love and
are grateful for his love because of his justice. It's
because of his justice that we've experienced his grace. Don't

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be mistaken by God's patience with us is long suffering,
thinking he doesn't care about sin and the rejection of
his truth. The Lord is a warrior, all right. The
scripture makes it very clear, and there is coming a
day when he will lemonade. Time will run out for
those who are oppose to him. Verse thirteen. The Lord

(07:06):
shall go forth like a mighty man. He shall stir
up his zeal, like a man of war. He shall
cry out, yes, shout loud. He shall prevail against his enemies.
I have held my peace a long time. I have
been still and restrained myself. As the Lord speaking now,
I will cry like a woman in labor. I will
pant and gasp at once. I will lay waste the

(07:29):
mountains and the hills, and dry up all their vegetation.
I will make the river's coastlands, and I will dry
up the pools Verse sixteen. I will bring the blind
by the way they did not know. I will lead
them in paths they have not known. I will make
darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things
I will do for them, and not forsake them. They

(07:51):
shall be turned back. They shall be greatly ashamed. Who trusted,
or who trust in carved images, who say to mold
images you are are gods. Now this passage will find
its complete fulfillment in the millennial reign of Christ. But

(08:11):
this worrying spirit for righteousness in the Kingdom of God
should be in the church today. Now the weapons of
our warfare are not cardinal, and we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but we should be battling in the
spiritual realm. Matthew Chapter eleven, verse twelve says, and from
the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom

(08:33):
of Heaven suffers violence, and the violence take it by
fourth by force. Now I've repeated this many times, and
you should know by now the Old Testament speaks to
the physical, whereas the New Testament speaks to the spiritual.
We are engaged in an epic spiritual battle. For those

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who refuse to see the spiritual realm, which is the
Kingdom of God God, then you're oblivious to the battle
that's going on around you. And that might be why
you sometimes you just feel like you're getting the snot
beat out of you because you're not fighting in the
spiritual realm. Verse eighteen. Hear you deaf, and look you blind,

(09:17):
that you may see. We got to see who is blind,
but my servant or deaf as my messenger whom I send,
who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind
as the Lord's servant, seeing many things, But you do
not observe opening the ears, but he does not hear.
The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake. He

(09:38):
will exalt the law and make it honorable. But this
is if people robbed and plundered. All of them are
snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses.
They are for prey, and no one delivers for plunder,
and no one says restore. Who among you will give
ear to this? Who will listen and hear from the
time to come? Who gave Jacob for plunder in Israel

(09:59):
to the robbers? Is it not the Lord he against
whom we have sinned, For they would not walk in
his ways, nor were they obedient to his laws. Therefore,
therefore he has poured on him the fury of his
anger and the strength of battle. It has set him
on fire all around. Yet he did not know, and

(10:21):
it burned him, Yet he did not take it to heart.
See all of this that we just read here is
the result from unbelief in rejecting the word of God
in his ways, the ability to see but not perceive,
the ability to hear but not to understand see the
word of God, and history make very clear that if

(10:44):
we refuse to hear the truth, there will come a
point where we cannot hear and discern the truth any longer.
The door will close. And this is a very very
dangerous place to be Romans Chapter one about this. So
my prayer is that our eyes and our ears would

(11:06):
always be open to the truth, and our hearts quick
to respond to that truth. Father, thank you for your word,
and we thank you once again for this journey that
we are on through your word, and we ask the
Holy Spirit to be our teacher, to be our guide,
to reveal these truths to us. And Lord, please, please, Father,

(11:27):
let our eyes be open and our ears be open,
so that we can hear, we can see. But then, Lord,
give us feet that are quick to respond, a heart
that is inclined to follow after you, as as David was. So, Lord,
cleanse us, prepare us for this new year, that we
would walk in the strength that comes from abiding in You.

(11:48):
For we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, thanks for joining me this morning. By the way,
great time to as people are making New Year's resolutions,
to invite someone to join you on this journey through
the Word of God's stand on the Word. Doesn't matter
that we're, you know, halfway through. They can join anytime,
and they can come back next time and pick up

(12:10):
the first half of the Bible. Yes, it's it's obviously
a much it's obviously a much richer experience to start
from the beginning. But we need people to be in
the Word of God, especially now in what is unfolding
around us. So invite them to download the stand Firm
app or go to FRC dot org slash Bible and

(12:33):
join us in this journey through the Word until next time.
Keep standing on the Word. Today's steady comes from the
Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free
at FRC dot org slash Bible. By following along in
just a few minutes a day, you can read through
the entire Bible in just two years. Learn more and

(12:56):
request the free reading guide at FRC dot org slash Bible.