You are My Servant
1. [v.1-5] Servant to Master: “The LORD called me…”
     A.[v.1-3] Equipped for the Master: “He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me”
   B.[v.4-5] Strengthened by the Master to Overcome Discouragement: “ ‘I have labored in vain… yet surely my right is with the LORD… my God has become my strength”
2. [v.6-7] Master to Servant: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant…”
   A.[v.6] The Mission to His Divine Servant: “I will make you as a light for the nations… may reach to the end of the earth”
     B.[v.7] The Worship of His Chosen Servant: “they shall prostrate themselves… the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you”


​

 
You are My Servant
(ISAIAH 49:1-7)
 
Pause & Reflect

1. What has God been teaching you through last week’s message? Read the texts once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

 
1 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

1. [v.1-3] *Biblical principle – THE MASTER CALLS AND EQUIPS HIS SERVANT: God called His only Son, conceiving Him by the holy Spirit in the womb of humanity. He equipped His mouth to be like a sword that pierces into soul and spirit, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Even before being called His only Son and the rightful King of kings, Jesus was called to be the servant of the LORD, in whom the LORD’s glory would shine by His servanthood. God equips those whom He calls. He does not call those who are equipped. Our equipped weapon is not in guns or our fists or our words, but in God’s Word flowing through our mouth. Even more important than being a child of God is learning to be a servant of God hidden in His Word. Already back in chapter 42, the LORD has described His only Son Jesus Christ as a servant – “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations” (42:1). Now from chapter 49 onward, we see a clearer portrait of Jesus as the servant of God the Father. Although Jesus is the eternal Son of God and equal to God, the LORD describes Him first as a servant in whom He will glorify Himself. In what ways did Jesus first live the “servant” life before the “eternal sonship” life? How was He a servant before our King? Although the gospel is about becoming children – sons and daughters – of God, how are we too called to live the “servant” life before the “child of God” life? We learned how “servant” more precisely can mean “slave.” What are the qualities of a slave – does a slave have any rights, identity, or privileges? If slaves of the Master Jesus Christ, how is this the most honored position to take instead of to avoid? The Master equips those He calls instead of calling those who are already equipped. How did the LORD equip the servant Jesus with His mouth? What sufficient equipment has the LORD equipped you with to obey His calling to servanthood?

 
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says, 
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength--

1. [v.4-5] *Biblical principle – THE MASTER STRENGTHENS HIS SERVANT TO OVERCOME DISCOURAGEMENT: As a servant, Jesus too became discouraged when “He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him” (John 1:10-11), praying in agony with sweat like great drops of blood (Luke 22:44), and being forsaken on the cross by the Father as He became the fullness of our sins (Matthew 27:46). Yet Jesus overcame all this, knowing the LORD would justify Him through the resurrection, and reward Him with the purchase of our salvation. There is strength for the journey in servanthood! When we spend all our strength, God becomes our strength, as it did for Jesus. Our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). The journey to obey the Father God’s will to come as a servant of sinful humanity was no easy task for Jesus. It wasn’t all sunny days in His earthly life. The servant Jesus had much more gloomy days of anguish and persecution. Experiencing the full breadth of the human condition, Jesus too could have thought His labor was in vain, and the weight of carrying our sins in His own body on the cross was initially unbearable. Yet through it all, God still became His strength to finish His service in purchasing our salvation. When have you been discouraged in ministry, thinking, “I have labored in vain”? How does the example of Jesus strengthen you and assure you that the life of a servant of the LORD is not in vain? Has God become the strength of your heart? Can we say with Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”? Do you know that like Jesus, you too will be honored in the eyes of the LORD, and recompensed/rewarded for your service – not by your work, but by His grace? How can we grow a longing to hear more and more from the Master until the last day, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23)?

 
6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

1. [v.6-7] *Biblical principle – THE MASTER’S MISSION AND THE WORSHIP OF HIS DIVINE SERVANT: As a servant, Jesus was commissioned for a specific mission – “to bring Jacob back” (v.5) to the LORD, “to bring back the preserved of Israel” (v.6). Yet, this was incomplete, too light of a task in view of the grander mission that God had in mind – to make Jesus “a light for the nations” so that His “salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (v.6). The mission of every servant is to bring all people into the worship of the servant Jesus Christ, who is the only true God chosen to be our salvation. It is too light of us and narrow of us to think otherwise. Stay on mission! Widen your scope of the mission! You are His servants, His church, to be the viral gospel on mission with Him! Now as the servant Jesus is resolved to overcome discouragement and finish the mission, the Master reiterates the grander mission He has – more than just the restoration of the remnant of Israel. Jesus was to be the salvation that can reach every nation on the earth. Although despised, abhorred and crucified on a cross, Jesus would rise on the third day and all rulers of the earth will one day prostrate themselves in worship before Him. As servants of Christ, are we treating the mission too lightly? How can we keep our eyes on the mission – to bring all peoples before the worship of Jesus Christ? How can we realign and refocus the purpose of our life, our church, our ultimate goal to bring back all nations before the feet of Christ? How does the Master’s mission secure us to look farther than even our own lives, our own church, our own agendas? Read the following Scriptures on godly servanthood:

 
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:5-7)
 
But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. (Luke 22:26)
 
And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)
 
The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:11-12)
 
If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. (John 12:26)
 
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
 
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (Romans 12:11)
 
Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:24)
 

 
The central truth of this word was –
You are servants, not kings. The sin within us will always take the position of kings. Yet if even the King of kings took the position of a servant, how much more should we? A servant has no rights except what the Master grants. A servant has no identity except who he/she belongs to – which Master has ownership. A servant does back-bending work day and night without complaint at the Master’s instruction. Every good and faithful servant is rewarded (Matthew 25:14-30), not by their work but by His grace (Matthew 18:21-35). Blessed are the servants who stay awake (Luke 12:35-48)! Blessed are the servants who say they are unworthy and have only done their duty (Luke 17:7-10). Are you His servant, or are you still your own king?
– *How has the LORD spoken to you today through this?
 

Holy Spirit Moment
Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray.
 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)

Peace Like a River
1.[v.12-16] The Presence of Peace: “Listen to me… I am the first, and I am the last… The LORD loves him; He shall perform His purpose… now the LORD God has sent me, and His Spirit”
2.[v.17-19] The Potential for Peace: “Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea”
3.[v.20-22] The Promise in Peace: “They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts”

 
Peace Like a River
(ISAIAH 48:12-22)
 
Pause & Reflect

1. What has God been teaching you through last week’s message? Read the texts once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

 
12 “Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; I am the first,
    and I am the last.
13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them,
    they stand forth together.
14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
    Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him;
    he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
16 Draw near to me, hear this:
    from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.” And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.

1. [v.12-16] *Biblical principle – THE PRESENCE OF PEACE: We can have continuous peace like a flowing river because God’s presence is continuously flowing over us, around us, and within us. He is the first and the last over all eternity – His right hand spread out the heavens above us. He loves us – His love surrounds us – just as He did for a foreign king like Cyrus, to accomplish His purposes. His presence is within us because He has sent Jesus Christ and His Spirit to indwell us. Be at peace. His presence is here – He is the God with us! The LORD had just announced that for His name’s sake, He will refine His stubborn and hard-hearted people in the furnace of affliction, removing their impurity and transforming them to live for His glory instead of their own. This refining fire of God would soon come as His discipline for His people through 70 years of captivity at the hands of the Babylonian empire. Upon hearing this, fear, hopelessness, discouragement, and anxiety would have overwhelmed the people of God. Yet how does the LORD give them peace by His character? Peace (shalom) is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of Your Creator – shalom means wholeness, completeness in your God – not lacking nor wanting anything else – as PSALM 23 begins, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” What do you lack when your God laid the foundation of the earth, and His right hand spread out the heavens? What do you lack when the Lord says that He loves you, as He did for a foreign king (v.14)? What do you lack when He says before it came to be, “I have been there” (v.16)? What do you lack when He has sent Himself in Jesus Christ, and His Spirit (v.16)? How do you need to listen and draw near to the presence of this peace?

 
17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.
18 Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
19 your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.”

1. [v.17-19] *Biblical principle – THE POTENTIAL FOR PEACE: Although the presence of God’s peace is before us, we can miss it and forfeit it by not paying attention to the LORD’s commandments. Obedience motivated by the embrace of God’s love is the key to grasping the opportunity for possessing His peace. Pay attention! Be alert! Be awake to obey what He says. Then, your peace will flow like a never-ending river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea. All those hidden in Christ Jesus, trusting and obeying what He says, will experience maximum potential to enjoy and glorify Him. Although the LORD God taught His people to grow and led them in the way they should go (v.17), they did not pay attention and therefore lost the opportunity to experience His peace like a river. They had potential, but it was unfulfilled potential. How is God also calling you to pay attention to Him today? How are we so prone to falling into unfulfilled potential for Jesus? Do you obey God’s commands out of duty or out of delight? PSALM 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the man [and woman] who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his [her] delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he [she] meditates day and night. He [She] is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” When we obey the LORD out of delight, His peace within us becomes like a river and righteousness like waves of the sea. Why is His peace like river – what is so peculiar about a river, even if an obstacle is thrown in its path? How can the river of His peace, the waves of His righteousness, flow into and flow out of you to one another? How can we heed the warning of unfulfilled spiritual potential, and live into maximum potential for the LORD through godly obedience today?

20 Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out.
22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

1. [v.20-22] *Biblical principle – THE PROMISE IN PEACE: God’s peace that transcends all understanding is a guaranteed promise. It isn’t a fantasy or unreachable tranquility, but a tangible promise proven by redemptive history. The LORD brought peace to His people from captivity through the promise of king Cyrus. The LORD provided water for His people as they made their way back to the homeland, just as He provided water from the rock in the desert when the people complained to Moses of their thirst (Exodus 17:1-7). That rock was Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). He is the promised provision of peace we can drink from and never be thirsty again. For God’s ancient people, His peace would come tangibly, visibly, and concretely through their return from 70 years of exile and abduction by the Babylonians, as they declare the LORD has redeemed them. How is God’s peace a tangible, visible, concrete, promised reality in your life, even in times of trial? As Moses gave God’s people water out of the rock, that water was peace for an anxious people and that rock was Christ. What water is Jesus flowing forth for you to drink today? For the wicked, there is no peace, although they might have temporal peace now, because their end is destruction and eternal suffering. How is the opposite true for those hidden in Christ’s righteousness, although full peace on earth is yet to come? *Read together these scriptures:

 
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (ISAIAH 26:3)
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (ROMANS 8:6)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (ROMANS 15:13)
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. (COLOSSIANS 3:15)
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (JAMES 3:18)
 

 
The central truth of this word was –
“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.” Although it may appear the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer, God’s shalom (peace) rests only with those hidden in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We have peace with God through the reconciling work of Christ. We have peace in God through the trials and storms of life, like a continuous flow of river water that goes around the obstacles in its way. We can have peace with one another, as we extend the flowing waters from our rock, Jesus Christ, to those around us as peacemakers. All this is anchored in the presence, potential, and promise of His peace through His Spirit that indwells us. Let peace like a river flow!
– *How has the LORD spoken to you today through this?
 
​
Holy Spirit Moment
Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray.
 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)

For My Name’s Sake, I Have Refined You
1.[v.1-5] Refining Needed: “not in truth or right… you are obstinate”
2.[v.6-8] Extent to be Refined: “before birth you were called a rebel”
3.[v.9-11] Refiner’s Motive: “For my name’s sake… I have tried you in the furnace of affliction”


For My Name’s Sake, I Have Refined You
(ISAIAH 48:1-11)
 
Pause & Reflect
 

1. What has God been teaching you through last week’s message? Read the texts once more and discern what the holy Spirit is desiring to say through it.

 
1 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
    who are called by the name of Israel,
    and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name.
3 “The former things I declared of old;
    they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,
5 I declared them to you from of old,
    before they came to pass I announced them to you,
lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,
    my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
 

1. [v.1-5] *Biblical principle – [v.1-5] REFINING NEEDED: God’s people were double-minded, confessing Him as God yet not in truth or right. They were hard-hearted, with iron necks and brass foreheads, refusing to bow and closing their minds to His words. They were obstinate – stubbornly unchangeable to the core. You can confess God rightly, but still live untruthfully. We are a people whose mind and actions are constantly in tension. For this reason, Jesus Christ came to refine and purify us. We were all once like “Jacob” – deceiving, proud, self-centered – yet how is God calling you by the name of “Israel” – the one who overcomes/prevails with Him? The LORD’s desire is simple – He just wants His truth and righteousness to come upon you. Yet how do we complicate this with a double-minded heart? What is your iron neck and brass forehead, refusing to submit before the LORD and one another? How is our stubbornness, obstinate mind, getting in the way of the grace that God wants to pour out into you and through you for one another?

 
6 “You have heard; now see all this;
    and will you not declare it?
From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known.
7 They are created now, not long ago;
    before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel.
 

1. [v.6-8] *Biblical principle – [v.6-8] EXTENT TO BE REFINED: God’s people were always bent on giving credit to themselves for what God had spoken and done by Himself. Instead of being humbled by His word, they would say, “I knew them” already and I know better. This kind of nature is in every human being, even before birth. We are totally depraved – having no ability to hear or know God. This is how far, deep, and wide the refining and purifying work of Christ extends into life prior, life now, and life forever with Him. One quality of God that keeps repeating and is put in the spotlight is His ability to prophetically predict the future down to its finite details. The things that have yet to be heard or appear, the LORD can say and declare them as if it is done. What is the LORD saying and declaring to be done in your life, although you haven’t heard or seen it come to pass yet, according to His character and Word? How does this give us hope and a secure standing? Even before birth, we were hopeless. Yet even before birth, what was God doing for you?

 
9 “For my name's sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
 

1. [v.9-11] *Biblical principle – [v.9-11] REFINER’S MOTIVE: Since His people are helpless in themselves, unable to remedy their own condition, the LORD defers His anger by grace for the sake of His name. Since His name is stamped on His people as their Creator, He must ensure they will be refined and purified. The way God does this is through the furnace of affliction. God is like a refining fire that does not burn us, but warms us and restores us. As fire removes impurity in metals, Jesus removes impurity through affliction. The trials of life are an occasion for this fire of Jesus Christ. The LORD loves to guard His own name. It is His quality-control – everything stamped with His name will showcase His glorious grace to the praise of His name – guaranteed! How is God guarantee His grace, provision, presence through the furnace of afflictions in your life? How is the fire of affliction a real blessing in disguise? How can we stop asking “why” and starting glorying in the “with” – God with us through it all? Read together – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (ISAIAH 43:2); In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 PETER 1:6-7). Nothing going into the fire comes out the same as it was before the fire. How is Jesus calling you into His fire to come out more gloriously refined than before?

 

 
The central truth of this word was –
The LORD is a refining fire, fanning His flame through the afflictions of life. There, He reminds us that although our minds and actions always fall short to His truth and righteousness, He will never forsake us nor leave us. Instead, He brings His fire in Jesus Christ near – a fire that does not burn us up but refines us through and through. He has refined us, for His name’s sake! Although not fully realized yet, it is guaranteed as we all are stamped with the name of being His child by His grace. For the sake of upholding His saving name, He will lead you and bring you home.
– *How has the LORD spoken to you today through this?
 

Holy Spirit Moment
Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray.
 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)