Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1945
“He shall not fail nor be discouraged till He has set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His Law.” Isaiah 42:4.
PREVIOUS verses at the close of the 41st Chapter indicate the utter failure of the hope of man from man. God Himself looked and behold, “there was no man; even among them, and there was no counselor that, when I asked of them could answer a word.” How often it is so in human history—man fails to find leadership and help in man! Great men are raised up, now and then, and the tendency is to make idols of them and so to trust in an arm of flesh. These die and then their fellows look out in the Church and in the world for other men upon whom they may dote after the same manner. But it sometimes happens that they look in vain—none arise whom they can elect for leaders. Just now I think it is so in more departments than one. Look where you may, where will you see the man who is equal to the crisis? Somehow or other, in the Providence of God, every hour has, in due time, had its man, but if our hopes are fixed in men, we must feel at this time sorely pressed.
In expounding the one verse which I have selected for a text, I shall need to open up the whole passage. Follow me, therefore, with opened Bibles and obey the first word of the Chapter, which is, Behold.
We are commanded at all times to behold the Son of God. There is never a season in which He is not a fit subject for contemplation and expectation. “Behold the Lamb of God” is the standing rule from generation to generation, from the first of January to the last of December. But specially in cloudy and dark days ought we to behold Him. When after having looked and looked long, you see no man and no counselor, then this precept has an emphatic force about it, “Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; My elect, in whom My soul delights.” When all other saviors fail, look to the Savior whom God has set up! The darker all things become, the more eagerly look for His appearing, whose coming is as a morning without clouds! When the lower lights are burning dim, behold the lamp above!
Our great comfort is that the Lord Jesus Christ is always to be beheld. He always lives and always works for His people. We must view Him not merely as One who appeared upon the scene years ago, but as still living. He died in the heat of the battle, but He rose again to secure the victory! We do not found our hopes of a brighter future upon a dead Savior—our hopes for the future of the world and for the accomplishment of God’s gracious purposes hang upon One who always lives and is, at this time, in the place of vantage, carrying on His great work and warfare at the right hand of God. My text says, “Behold My Servant”—and that matchless Servant of God is to be beheld—not with the eyes of sense—that were little worth—for men saw Him in that way and crucified Him! But He is to be beheld with the eyes of faith and this is a noble sight, for those who look to Him in that manner are lightened and their faces are not ashamed. At the commencement of my discourse, I beseech you, dear Brothers and Sisters, to look to Jesus Christ the ever-living Worker. If you have been troubled and fretted by peering into these gloomy times and perceiving nothing that can raise your spirits, I pray you look about you no longer, but look up! There He sits at the right hand of God, even the Father, the appointed Man, the glorious, chosen Deliverer. Behold Him and your fears and sorrows will fly away!
The text declares concerning our Lord that “He shall not fail nor be discouraged.” This leads us to consider what is the work which Jesus Christ has undertaken in which He will not fail nor be discouraged. Our text directs us in this matter, for it tells us that He has come to “set judgment in the earth” and that “the isles shall wait for His Law.” The earth is to be delivered from misrule and sin—and men are to be submissive to His instruction and direction. There are some who doubt it, but I still believe in that verse which we sang just now—
“Jesus shallreign wherever the sun Does his successive journeys run. His kingdom stretches from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more.” Our Lord has come to save His elect and He will save every one of them! No soul for whom He stood as Surety and Substitute shall ever be cast away. The sheep shall pass again under the hand of Him that counts them and they shall all be there. “He shall not fail nor be discouraged,” but He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied.
As for the Lord’s Second Coming, we know not when it shall be. Shall the world grow darker and darker till He comes? It may be so. There are passages of Scripture and signs of the times which may be taken to indicate it. On the other hand, shall the age grow brighter and brighter till He appears to bring the perfect day? Through the preaching of the Gospel shall there yet be periods in which multitudes shall be converted and whole nations shall be saved? I do not know—there are texts that seem to look that way and many a brave worker hopes as much. There are some who can map out unfulfilled prophecy with great distinctness, but I confess my inability to do so. They get a shilling box of mathematical instruments. They stick down one leg of the compasses and describe a circle here and a circle there—and they draw two or three lines—and there it is! Can you not see it, as plain as a pikestaff? I am sick of diagrams! I have seen enough of them to make another volume of Euclid. My impression is that very little is to be learned from the major part of these interpretations or speculations. I do not think that anybody can map out the future so as to be absolutely sure of anything definite except certain great clearly-stated facts.