Bruised Reeds

Gtcotr/ss091524

 

Isaiah 42 NKJV

1 ¶  “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.

2  He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.

3  A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.

4  He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

 

Isaiah gave us this Messianic prophecy over 700 years before Jesus was born. It is profoundly amazing that Jesus fulfilled every prophecy concerning the Messiah down to the most minute detail. It has been vitally important to every generation to understand:

 

Jesus did not have to die on the Cross of Calvary to become the Son of God. He was already the Son of God before the foundation of the world and the creation of man. 

 

Jesus did not need to be the Savior of the world so that He could claim His glorious throne. Dying on the cross did not make Jesus any more powerful or majestic. Jesus was already the Son of God before He was born of the virgin Mary, and before He was baptized in the Jordan River, and before He was crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead. Jesus didn’t have to do anything to be who He is. He is the eternal living Word of Almighty God. Then why did He volunteer to live the life of a suffering servant?

 

Jesus did what He did for you, because He loves you and cares about your eternity … He didn’t do it for Himself. He was already famous … He is God; eternal; omnipotent; omniscient; omnipresent; almighty; infallible. All things were made by Him and for Him and through Him all things continue to exist.

 

It was His choice to save us from our sin. It was His choice to take our place and suffer and die for everyone who will accept His gift. Without Him you will die for, and die in, your sins. You are alive only through Christ.

 

This world and our own human nature views success in a completely different way than eternity will conclude. Only God can see the future and only God can judge success. Your life is safe in God’s hands. The best you will ever be is in the will of God and He will guide you through and bring you to your greatest day. Everything you could gain would be second best at best. There is nothing better than Jesus for anyone at any time. All gods are not God, and all religions do not lead to eternal life.

 

The New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us that the world did not like Jesus. 

 

Mark 3:6  Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

 

The politically motivated parties of His day were constantly trying to discredit Jesus and destroy Him and His reputation. They even plotted together to try and find or manufacture a way to legally kill Jesus.They wanted to destroy Him. The more good Jesus did, the more the political leaders of the day feared and hated Him. Let’s read the account written in:

 

Matthew 12 NKJV

14 ¶  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

15  But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

16  Yet He warned them not to make Him known,

17  that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

18  “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

19  He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

20  A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory;

21  And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

 

Allow me to give you three considerations this morning:

 

1. The devil is doing his best to divide us.

a. Just like the Pharisees perpetrated lies against Jesus, an accusation does not have to be true to be deadly.

b. A plot does not have to be reasonable to be believed.

c. The wicked hate/watch/plot against the righteous (without rhyme or reason) and they seek to slay him. (Psalm 37:12;32)

d. Stop accepting opinion for truth and don’t follow people who have an agenda, especially an agenda against someone else.

e. A liar will tell you the truth hoping to deceive you.

f. Proverbs 26:25 When he speaks kindly, do not believe him; there are seven abominations in his heart.

2. Choose faithful over famous every time. 

a. Jesus didn’t want to be famous … rather Hewanted to be faithful.

b. Matthew 12:18 – “ … my Beloved in whom I am well pleased.”

c. Matthew 6 (3 times) God who sees in secret will reward openly.

d. Matthew 23:5 They do their works to be seen of men …

e. Matthew 6:3 Don’t let the left hand know what the right hand does.

f. Go on some adventures with God and see how much of His work you can do without anyone knowing.

g. Why you do what you do is often more important than what you do.

3. Don’t break a bruised reed.

a. Or extinguish a smoking wick in another person’s life.

b. The winds of life and the demands on oil can be challenging and can often damage our ability to be strong, upright, and brightly shining.

c. Don’t discount or discredit or give up on a bruised reed. (A hurting, helpless, or hopeless person)

d. Not even when it is your own hurt or hopelessness.

e. If someone who should be is not shining, don’t throw cold water on them … Jesus didn’t.

i. Jesus could have snuffed out the Pharisees at any point.

ii. Instead … He not only wanted to see them saved but He wanted to see all the Gentile nations trust in Him as well.

f. It’s not over until justice and truth rule the world.

g. Isaiah declared that Jesus will not be discouraged and will not quit until justice prevails.

h. Don’t treat it like it’s over.

 

Let’s pray …