Gentle Servant

Isaiah 42:1-4

Intro: God owns Him: v.1

1. As one employed by Him He is my servant

a. He learned obedience

to the Will of God.

b. He practiced it.

c. He laid Himself out to advance the interests of God’s Kingdom.

2. As one chosen by Him He is mine elect (KJV)

a. He did not thrust Himself

into the service.

b. He was called of God.

c. He was the fittest One for it.

3. As one He put confidence in He is my soul’s delight

a. He was trusted.

b. He was able.

c. He was faithful.

4. As one He took care of He is ... whom I uphold

a. He stood by Him

-- (bore Him up).

b. H strengthened Him

-- (bore Him out).

5. As one qualified for His office I will put my Spirit on Him

a. He was enabled to go

through His undertaking.

b. He was given the Spirit

without measure.

I. HE WORKS QUIETLY (v.2)

A. In silence, without display

1. No grand announcement

(royalty)

2. No public showing off

(Pharisees)

B. In the heart, without intimidation

1. Is not letter of the Law

-- I can’t...

2. Is motive of Love

-- I don’t want to...

II. HE WORKS GENTLY (v.3)

A. He repairs bruised lives (brokenhearted)

1. The shepherd’s musical instrument

a. Only the best are used.

b. Bruised are broken & thrown away.

2. The Divine Shepherd’s

musical instrument

a. Repaired and strengthened

b. Tuned and enjoyed

’til it is fit to join the

angels in concert.

B. He revives weakening hearts

1. Smoking flax (despondent)

a. Offensive

b. Put out (quenched )

and cast aside

2. Burning flax

a. Rekindled

b. Attractive & sought after

C. He establishes truth

Jesus Christ is very tender toward those that have true grace, though they are but weak in it, and accepts the willingness of the spirit, pardoning and passing by the weakness of the flesh. Matt. Henry

He Looked Beyond My Fault -

I shall forever lift mine eyes

to Calvary,

To view the cross

where Jesus died for me;

How marvelous the grace

that caught my falling soul;

He looked beyond my fault

and saw my need.

- Dottie Rambo

III. HE WORKS VICTORIOUSLY (v.4)

A. He shall not fail,

nor be discouraged.

Mild and gentle as He would be towards the broken-hearted and desponding, no power should depress His spirit, impede his progress, obscure his glory, or thwart his purpose. - B&M

B. He enables His apostles

and ministers.

Though He meets with hard service, and much opposition, and foresees how ungrateful the world will be, yet He goes on with His part of the work, til He is able to say, "It is finished;" and He enables His apostles and ministers to go on with theirs, too; til they also have finished their testimony. - B&M

ONE SOLITARY LIFE

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned--put together--have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.*