He Shall Not Fail

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 42:4

 

“He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law”

 

He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. And being “made of a woman made under the law” (Galatians 4:4) He is also the Son of man (Luke 6:5). And as such He is our near kinsman and the Redeemer of His people, who are His mystical members (John 15:5; I Corinthians 12:12,13, 27; Colossians 1:18; Psalm 139:16). And although He is Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:6; Mark 2:28), He submitted Himself to the law in order that He might fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17-18) on behalf of His members, because He is the Surety of the New Testament (Hebrews 7:22; Matthew 26:28).

 

It is He, the Christ of God, who shall never fail at any endeavor which He is pleased to undertake. Matthew gives His name as the Successful Savior of His people, as it is written: “But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all: and charged them that they should not make him known: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 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 shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust” (Matthew 12:15-21). John the Baptist has announced Messiah’s accomplishments as Great High Priest of the everlasting covenant, saying: “..Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This world is the world that God “so loved” as to give His only begotten Son for it (John 3:16; Romans 8:32).

 

 

The mighty God cannot fail, the Everlasting Father cannot be discouraged, the Prince of peace is the peace of His people (Isaiah 9:6; 53:5; Ephesians 2:14).  The purpose and grace of the King of glory (Psalm 24:7-10; II Timothy 1:9) cannot be extinguished by any difficulties that He should encounter in His work as the Mediator of the everlasting covenant, as it is written: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah” (Psalm 24:7-10).

 

The existence of this universe hangs on the arm of Him who is the brightness of the Glory of God, the express image of His Person and who upholds all things by the word of His power, who by Himself purged both the actual and original sins of His people (Hebrews 1:1-3). He alone is the Mediator of the everlasting covenant of grace, as it is written: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5).

 

In the Trinity of His Most Sacred Person the God of heaven and earth has charged the Son of God with the responsibility of bringing His many sons to glory, as it is written: “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:10). These many sons are those who are the adopted children of God, who He calls His people, as it is written: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

 

The King Of glory, Christ Jesus shall not fail in the task that the Father has imposed upon Him and the task that He delighted to fulfill, as it is written: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). And again our Lord Jesus said: “..My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34). In His great high priestly prayer our Lord Jesus made this declaration: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). The declaration of the Father was: “He shall not fail” the declaration of the Son is: “I have finished the work thou gavest me to do” let believers rest in the accomplished salvation of the people of God, which is accomplished by the Savior of sinners our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 All that the Father has given Him are justified by His blood, as it is written: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9). Jesus Christ the Son of God justified His elect by dying in their stead and enduring in His flesh the wrath of God for them. He has redeemed the “children of promise” (Galatians 4:28) from the curse of the law, as it is written: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). Christ Jesus has redeemed us to God by His precious blood. He has justified His chosen by His blood. He has said: “I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4) and He declared it to be finished, as it is written: “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30).

 

We are said to be justified by faith (Romans 5:1), faith is the medium through which we understand the things of the Spirit of God, as it is written: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3). The worlds were framed by the power of God (Psalm 33:6; Romans 1:20). It is by faith that His creatures are made aware of the mode of their creation. And it is by faith that we understand that God has saved us by Jesus Christ. As it is written: “.. but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (II Timothy 1:8-9).

 

The Apostle did not say God hath called us and saved us; but that God hath saved us and called us. God has saved His elect in eternity past by His counsel and covenant (Isaiah 46:10; 14:24), consequentially in time, His elect are given grace unto known salvation (Romans 5:17; Acts 3:25; 13:39, 48).   It was necessary that we should be saved before we were called, that is we had to be redeemed and justified before we could be taught that we are children of the covenant being beloved children of God from everlasting and heirs of God in Christ Jesus (Jude 1:1; I Corinthians 1:2; Isaiah 54:13; Galatians 4:6; Hebrews 2:14; I Corinthians 2:12-13).

 

Till he have set judgment in the earth. Christ Jesus has established everlasting righteousness in the earth for those who are His people, as saith the Apostle Paul: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17). Those who are justified by the blood of Christ being children of the covenant, know that they live unto God because they are justified by Him who is their justifying righteousness. As it is written: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5-6). Justice is satisfied and has no quarrel with the children of God because: “..he (that is God the Father: writer) hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:21). The Psalmist saith: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven” (Psalm 85:10-11). Those who are made the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ have nothing to fear from God and the judgement because: “He is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14).

 

The children of God are made manifest by their faith which is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). As it is written: “Therefore it is of faith, (free justification: writer) that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16). There is peace between heaven and the world of God’s elect whose sins the Lamb of God has taken away (John 1:29).

 

And the isles shall wait for his law. The children of God of every nation wait to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ (His law: writer). To them it is the gospel feast served in the mountain of God, which is His church, as it is written: “And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isaiah 25:6-9).

 

Our Lord Jesus saith: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum” (John 6:47-59). Let believers be thankful that they know the joyful sound (Psalm 89:15).

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com and hear the true Gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.