My wife and I are on vacation and attended a church service on Sunday, visiting a popular congregation in the city I am in. The worship time was great, and the people were so friendly. It promised to be a good Sunday.

The preacher man got up, and provided the following passages to consider for the morning.

Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

Isaiah 42:1 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.
Isaiah 42:2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;
Isaiah 42:3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.
Isaiah 42:4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.

He finished with Isaiah 11

Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Now I provide these passages to my reader up front, for it seems obvious to me that the unifying topic of the morning’s message would be the Lord Jesus and His ministry while on earth. This might be a good message.

This preacher man then proceeded to completely ignore the fulfillments provided by the New Testament (see below) and speak of subjective prophecies that had been “spoken over” various ministries or building programs the church organization had pursued.

He was loud, somewhat erratic and eventually political in his message. The intent of the message, if I understood it properly, was that subjective promises spoken over certain situations would be fulfilled by God, though there may be many many disappointments along the way, as long as the subject held on.

Now some who may be reading may question me for seemingly deprecating this man’s exhortation to exercise faith. That is not my message. Is faith important in the Christian life? Absolutely. It is the channel through which we lay hold the promises of God. But as I left the church, I sensed that the congregant’s faith was being directed to subjective, possibly selfish, promises that could not be specifically found in the Word of God, nor supported by the will of God.

When a believer is distracted from the Word, even for “good” intentions, and pursues a promise “as if from God”, delivered by an experience, a Christian leader or a “prophet” of God, the believer is translating his faith from the objective Word to a subjective promise, all the while associating that promise with God. Many times I wonder if God is involved in the slightest!

One possible outcome of this situation is that when the promise is not fulfilled, God is blamed, and a consequence may be the believer’s faith is diminished or possibly destroyed.

One other possibility is that when the promise is fulfilled, (through the providence of God or the manipulation of man), the believer is encouraged to ignore the Word and depend on the subjective prophecy. This too is a dangerous road to venture down.

My wife and I have been to a number of churches in the recent years, as we travel and visit friends and family, and have found that there is a certain element within Christendom that pursues this path of faith. I fear for those who are directed away from the Word of God, even as they may use it for their own purposes.

This preacher man, as he loudly read the passages above, could claim he referred to the Word, since he read large swaths of the text. But as he read the passages, he then ignored the amazing fulfillment of each prophecy in the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to prop up subjective experiences.

Oh, and did I mention how loud he was? Was he ever loud! It was as if the truthfulness of his message was dependent on the volume of his voice. I wanted to suggest he reread Isaiah 42:2, where the Word speaks of lifting up his voice, but I didn’t.

It just seemed to be of no importance! After all, he had already read the passage out loud to the congregation. It seemed to be enough for this preacher man.

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New Testament fulfillment of Isaiah Prophecies

Isaiah 9:2 is fulfilled in Matthew 4:16

Matthew 4:14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
Matthew 4:15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles–
Matthew 4:16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

Isaiah 42 passage is fulfilled in Matthew 12

Matthew 12:18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
Matthew 12:19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
Matthew 12:20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;
Matthew 12:21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Isaiah 11 passage is fulfilled in

Romans 15:12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”

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