Because Of The Anointing

Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 12th March service and hymns are below.

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Our verses are:

Isa 10:20  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

Isa 10:21  The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

Isa 10:22  For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

Isa 10:23  For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

Isa 10:24  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

Isa 10:25  For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

Isa 10:26  And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

Isa 10:27  And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

 Because Of The Anointing

The continuing reference to the Lord’s outstretched hand shows the enduring nature of the judgment the Lord will send on wicked Israel and Judah. I am sure we do not understand the total abhorrence and antipathy God has towards sin. In hell God’s holy wrath will never be pacified. His hand will be stretched out still in everlasting punishment. The Lord’s complaint is with the rich and powerful who exploit and rob the poor by passing laws to deny them justice. Isaiah would have the Jews know that soon their ill-gotten gains will be taken from them by the king of Assyria and they will be captured and killed.

Assyria, too, will be punished

The prophet then turns his attention to the Assyrians whom he describes as a rod; a tool in God’s hand to dispense justice. Pompous Sennacherib, king of Assyria, is lifted up with pride. He fancies his victories flow from his own wisdom and strength. Isaiah says soon, he too, shall be broken and humbled. Assyria is likened to an inanimate object, an axe or a saw in the hand of a workman. When it has served its purpose it shall be cast aside.

The remnant will return

Now Isaiah returns to comfort the Lord’s people and remind them again their salvation is assured. Yes, the rod would fall upon Judah and Israel. The distress of the nation would be profound. It would not, however, be the end. The rod would chastise, the staff that is Assyria would wound, but it would not completely destroy. Despite all appearances a remnant, the remnant, will be preserved through these dark times and shall return to the Lord as God had decreed.

Isaiah’s gospel

This is the prophet’s gospel for the Lord’s elect and it contains all the meat and matter of the gospel we still believe today. It points to the Lord our Righteousness. Isaiah speaks of God’s sovereignty, God’s covenant purpose, and God’s converting and preserving power. He is the mighty God (v. 21) who saves His people and gathers His elect according to His purpose. He is the covenant God (v. 22) who promised salvation to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or ‘Israel’. He is God who redeems, converts and gives rest to His people by breaking their yoke and setting them free (v. 27).

Christ appointed

Now we are brought to see the ground and reason for every believer’s confidence and comfort in Christ. Isaiah tells the people, ‘the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing’. Isaiah is speaking of Christ. He who is anointed for the destruction of our enemies is the Messiah and our thoughts are being turned again to chapter 9 and verse 6 where the glorious identity of the child born of a virgin and God’s given Son is revealed in His wonderful, glorious character.

Christ anointed

This is pure, sweet gospel. Our Lord Jesus was ‘anointed with the oil of gladness above (His) fellows’ says the psalmist. He was ‘anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power’, says Peter, to heal and do good to the souls of chosen sinners according to God’s sovereign mercy and promised grace. The salvation of all the elect of God of every age is fixed in God’s covenant purpose which Jesus of Nazareth was appointed, and anointed, to fulfil.

Believing brings peace

Men and women of faith in every age find peace and hope in trusting Christ alone for their acceptance with God. In Christ we are holy before God and spotless under the law. When we grasp our acceptance is wholly in Christ and our righteousness is completely from Him, and through Him, we experience liberty and peace. We need fear the Assyrian no more. We need fear Satan no more. Our Mighty God has come to deliver His people from their sins and the Prince of Peace has prevailed.

Sufficient grace

Paul applies these verses to the salvation of God’s elect, those saved with a spiritual and eternal salvation. He writes in Romans 9 ‘a remnant shall be saved’. We are saved because Christ was appointed to stand in our place and anointed to fulfil every obligation and duty required of us. We rest in Christ’s complete satisfaction for sin, and the fulness of His provision to meet our every need. We are safe and secure because our Saviour was anointed for the work of bringing us to God.

Amen

Our hymns are below.

Hymn 1

Gadsby selection 23

Christ Very God and Man. John 1. 29; Isa. 9. 6

J. Hart                                            C.M.

1
A Man there is, a real Man,
With wounds still gaping wide,
From which rich streams of blood once ran,
In hands, and feet, and side.

2
’Tis no wild fancy of our brains,
No metaphor we speak;
The same dear Man in heaven now reigns
That suffered for our sake.

3
This wondrous Man of whom we tell,
Is true Almighty God;
He bought our souls from death and hell;
The price, his own heart’s blood.

4
That human heart he still retains,
Though throned in highest bliss;
And feels each tempted member’s pains;
For our affliction’s his.

5
Come, then, repenting sinner, come;
Approach with humble faith;
Owe what thou wilt, the total sum
Is cancelled by his death.

6
His blood can cleanse the blackest soul,
And wash our guilt away;
He will present us sound and whole,
In that tremendous day.

Hymn 2

Gadsby selection 1116

“Stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” Isa. 53. 4

T. Kelly   8.7.

1
“Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,”
See him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ by man rejected!
Yes, my soul, ’tis he! ’tis he!
’Tis the long expected Prophet,
David’s son, yet David’s Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it;
’Tis a true and faithful word.

2
Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,
Was there ever grief like his?
Friends, through fear, his cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress.
Many hands were raised to wound him,
None would interpose to save,
But the awful stroke that found him,
Was the stroke that justice gave.

3
Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed!
See who bears the awful load!
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of man, and Son of God.

4
Here we have a firm foundation;
Here’s the refuge of the lost;
Christ’s the Rock of our salvation;
His the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrificed to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on thee their hopes have built. 

The Lord’s elect people are a remnant people who have escaped from judgment and death through the sacrifice and deliverance of their Saviour. The remnant stay upon the Lord in truth, they return to the Lord, and they prove the Lord faithful. These lessons Isaiah taught to the encouragement and comfort of the Lord’s elect then, and they shall remain and encouragement for all time for the Lord’s church from every nation. The elect are be saved because of the appointing and anointing of our Saviour to His task.

12 March 2023