Speaker 1: Heavenly Father is right that we should open up our
Speaker 1: mouths and proclaim with our lips, with words and in
Speaker 1: song that you are holy, that Lord Jesus, you have
Speaker 1: paid it all. You are worthy of our praise with
Speaker 1: our mouth, But not just our mouths. That's the thing
Speaker 1: we've assembled here as a congregation, not just to praise
Speaker 1: us with mouths when our hearts are far from you. Lord.
Speaker 1: We desire that you would give us true praise in
Speaker 1: the inmost places, that our whole lives would praise you. So, Lord,
Speaker 1: as we open up your word, would you open up
Speaker 1: our hearts? Would you open up our ears? Would you
Speaker 1: form in us the character and the truth and the
Speaker 1: maturity and the sanctification that only you can do. We
Speaker 1: want to step out, We want to step about in faith,
Speaker 1: in the obedience of faith. Would you meet us with
Speaker 1: the power that only you can provide through the power
Speaker 1: of your spirit as we look at your word to
Speaker 1: make us more like your son in whose name we pray. Amen.
Speaker 1: Scrab our bibles, scrab our Bibles and turn to Isaiah
Speaker 1: Isaiah chapter forty nine and fifty Isaiah forty nine and fifty.
Speaker 1: Thank you, We'll oh and there we go. I know
Speaker 1: how to carry that next time Isaiah forty nine and fifty.
Speaker 1: If you don't have a Bible with you, just raise
Speaker 1: your hand and keep it up and we will find
Speaker 1: you and get you a bible or a bulletin or
Speaker 1: a pen or anything that you might need. Just catch
Speaker 1: the eye of one of these ushers and let them
Speaker 1: know what you need and they'll they'll help you with that,
Speaker 1: and turn to Isaiah chapter forty nine. If if you haven't,
Speaker 1: let me also remind you to fill out a connection
Speaker 1: card this morning. We ask everybody to do that every week.
Speaker 1: It's an important pastoral tool for us that we know
Speaker 1: that you are here by name. So whether you're a
Speaker 1: guest or a member, just please before the worship service
Speaker 1: is over, just scan the QR code and the bulletin
Speaker 1: and on the seat back and fill out a connection card.
Speaker 1: Let let us put your name down there and let
Speaker 1: us know you were here. Specifically. You can also include
Speaker 1: a prayer request. We'll be praying with you and for
Speaker 1: you throughout the week. And if you're new, you can
Speaker 1: leave some contact information. We'll follow up with you. We'd
Speaker 1: love to connect with you. In fact, right after this
Speaker 1: service there's a table called Step one. It's out there
Speaker 1: if you can find it in the lobby and we'll
Speaker 1: connect with you there. We'd love to answer questions about
Speaker 1: what it would be like to be a part of
Speaker 1: this church. Help you invite you into that, into the
Speaker 1: process of becoming a part of this church. Answer questions
Speaker 1: maybe about this text or about the gospel of Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: as we've been sinking about the one who died and
Speaker 1: was raised and makes us right before a holy God.
Speaker 1: We would love for you to have clarity about that,
Speaker 1: even maybe before you leave today, certainly before you disentangle
Speaker 1: your self from this community of faith. We want you
Speaker 1: to be clear about the gospel. And if you are,
Speaker 1: maybe you'll just come to Christ and become a part
Speaker 1: of this church body. Okay, Isaiah, Chapter forty nine and fifty. Again,
Speaker 1: thank you for your patience. And I know it feels
Speaker 1: a little crowded out there in the lobby this morning
Speaker 1: because the student ministry is raising money for camp and
Speaker 1: you guys are coming through. Let me just tell you
Speaker 1: generous spirit here. I've already seen the bid sheets. These
Speaker 1: are some well paid students. Let me just say good job.
Speaker 1: Thank you for that. Isaiah, forty nine and chapter fifty.
Speaker 1: We're going to read our text here in just a moment.
Speaker 1: It's got some complexities to it, so I want to
Speaker 1: frame this up so that we can best understand it
Speaker 1: even as we just read the text together in a moment.
Speaker 1: The situation is this, the people of God are in
Speaker 1: the midst of some trying circumstances. It is easy for them, yes,
Speaker 1: on the one hand, to note the hope and the
Speaker 1: blessings that have already been pronounced for them and given
Speaker 1: to them. But on the other hand, they are still
Speaker 1: not yet back to their homeland, and they are still
Speaker 1: beset by all kinds of real needs and real problems.
Speaker 1: And in the midst of it, they are discouraged, you
Speaker 1: could say, despondent. And we are not much different, truly, we,
Speaker 1: as the people of God redeemed by Jesus Christ, have
Speaker 1: been given hope and blessings and grace in great measure,
Speaker 1: and are still, on the other hand, beset by sins.
Speaker 1: We're sinned against. We have real needs and real difficulties,
Speaker 1: And it is easy, if our eyes are fixed only
Speaker 1: on the circumstances on the ground, to be discouraged, even
Speaker 1: despondent and so here God calls his people to lift
Speaker 1: their eyes off of not just merely what's going on
Speaker 1: around them, but to put them on his plan, what
Speaker 1: he's up to, what he's promised, where he's taking this
Speaker 1: whole thing, and in so doing boom in the heart
Speaker 1: and soul from a place of discouragement to a place
Speaker 1: of trust and waiting on the Lord. It's a matter,
Speaker 1: you could say, a vision, A vision that sounds like
Speaker 1: a fancy word vision. I hear like CEOs talk about
Speaker 1: vision and like leaders talk about vision. The term vision
Speaker 1: really just means what is the picture that you have
Speaker 1: in your mind of what's going on and where it's
Speaker 1: all headed. You might have heard this illustration before man
Speaker 1: goes up to the work site of a cathedral and
Speaker 1: asks the workers there what are they doing, And one
Speaker 1: worker says, well, you can see I've got a wheelbarrow
Speaker 1: full of stones. I'm taking them from over there to
Speaker 1: over there. And he asks another worker what are you doing?
Speaker 1: Says well, I think you can see I'm mixing mortar.
Speaker 1: And he asks another worker who's sweeping, what are you doing?
Speaker 1: And she stops, leans on her room for a minute
Speaker 1: and says, I am building a Cathedral to the Living God,
Speaker 1: and it will stand on this countryside for a thousand years.
Speaker 1: Somebody's got a different forward vision, and that forward vision
Speaker 1: is going to make a huge difference in the ups
Speaker 1: and the downs, and the discouragements and the outlook of
Speaker 1: her every day life. That's the kind of thing that
Speaker 1: Isaiah gives us in forty nine and fifty. So we're
Speaker 1: going to read it because it has some complexity to it.
Speaker 1: I'm just going to call out some structural markers as
Speaker 1: we go. I think it'll help us get a grasp
Speaker 1: on what is a very sort of fluid poem that
Speaker 1: we call the Second Song of the Servant, the Second
Speaker 1: Song of the Servant. Isaiah has four songs of the
Speaker 1: Servant in his book. This is the second one, and
Speaker 1: what we see in the New Testament. Again, just to
Speaker 1: help us understand as we read, what we see in
Speaker 1: the New Testament, is that the New Testament writers clearly
Speaker 1: identify this servant as our Lord Jesus Christ, right, not
Speaker 1: just a prophet, this servant, the prophet, not just Israel,
Speaker 1: but the true Israel, the Messiah of Israel. That's who
Speaker 1: our New Testament writers identify this servant to be. And
Speaker 1: the people of God. The people of God who are
Speaker 1: referenced throughout are also our New Testament writers identify the
Speaker 1: people of God, not just those who are ethnically of Abraham,
Speaker 1: as some might have thought, but of those who have
Speaker 1: the faith of Abraham. So who that gets to include?
Speaker 1: Praise God. Now, let's stand for the reading of God's
Speaker 1: Word chapters forty nine and fifty. It's a long one.
Speaker 1: There's some complexity. Let me offer some markers along the way.
Speaker 1: You read along as I read aloud. In chapter forty nine,
Speaker 1: the servant speaks about this refreshingly, gloriously worldwide mission, saying this,
Speaker 1: listen to me, o coast lands, and give attention you
Speaker 1: peoples from Afar. The Lord called me from the womb,
Speaker 1: from the body of my mother. He named my name.
Speaker 1: He made my mouth like a sharp sword in the
Speaker 1: shadow of his hand. He hid me. He made me
Speaker 1: a polished arrow in his quiver. He hid me away.
Speaker 1: He said, you are my servant Israel, in whom I
Speaker 1: will be glorified. But I said, I've labored in vain.
Speaker 1: I have spent my strength for nothing in vanity. Yet
Speaker 1: surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense
Speaker 1: is with my God. Now, the Lord says, he who
Speaker 1: formed me from the womb, and to be his servant
Speaker 1: to bring Jacob back to him, that Israel might be
Speaker 1: gathered to him. For I am honored in the eyes
Speaker 1: of the Lord, and my God has become my strength.
Speaker 1: He says. It's too light a thing that you should
Speaker 1: be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob
Speaker 1: and to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will
Speaker 1: make you as a light for the nations, that my
Speaker 1: salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Thus
Speaker 1: says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
Speaker 1: to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant
Speaker 1: of rulers, kings shall see and arise princes, and they
Speaker 1: shall prostrate themselves because of the Lord who is faithful,
Speaker 1: the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you. Thus
Speaker 1: says the Lord. In a time of favor, I have
Speaker 1: answered you. In a day of salvation, I have helped you.
Speaker 1: I will keep you and give you as a covenant
Speaker 1: to the people to establish the land, to apportion the
Speaker 1: desolate heritage, saying to the prisoners, come out to those
Speaker 1: who are in darkness appear, and they shall feed along
Speaker 1: the ways. On the bare heights shall be their pasture.
Speaker 1: And they shall not hunger or thirst. Neither scorching wind
Speaker 1: nor sun shall strike them. For he who has pity
Speaker 1: on them will lead them. By springs of water, will
Speaker 1: guide them. I will make all my mountains a road,
Speaker 1: and my highways shall be raised up. Behold, these shall
Speaker 1: come from Afar, And behold these from the north and
Speaker 1: from the west, and these from the land of sign
Speaker 1: Sing for joy, oh Heaven's, and exult o Earth, Break forth,
Speaker 1: oh mountains, into singing. For the Lord has comforted his
Speaker 1: people and will have compassion on his afflicted. But his
Speaker 1: people doubt, and in discouragement, they say that that God
Speaker 1: has forsaken them. And so God declares back to them
Speaker 1: a picture of his commitment to his people. It's glorious.
Speaker 1: Back in verse fourteen, but Zion said, the Lord has
Speaker 1: forsaken me. My Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman
Speaker 1: forget her nursing child that she should have no compassion
Speaker 1: on the sun of her womb? Even these may forget.
Speaker 1: Yet I will not forget you. You. Behold, I have
Speaker 1: engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls
Speaker 1: are continually before me, your builders, Make haste your destroyers,
Speaker 1: and those who laid you waste, go out from you,
Speaker 1: And lift up your eyes around, and see they all gather.
Speaker 1: They come to you as I live, declare the Lord.
Speaker 1: You shall put them on, all on as an ornament.
Speaker 1: You shall bind them on as a bride does. Surely
Speaker 1: your waste, and your desolate places, and your devastated land.
Speaker 1: Surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
Speaker 1: and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
Speaker 1: The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears,
Speaker 1: the place is too narrow for me. Make room for
Speaker 1: me to dwell in. And then you will say in
Speaker 1: your heart, who has borne me these? I was bereaved
Speaker 1: and barren, exiled and put away. But who has brought
Speaker 1: up these? Behold? I was left alone? Where have these come?
Speaker 1: Thus says the Lord. Behold, I will lift up my
Speaker 1: hand to the nations and raise my signal to the peoples,
Speaker 1: And they shall bring your sons in their arms, and
Speaker 1: your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Kings shall
Speaker 1: be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.
Speaker 1: With their faces to the ground, they shall bow down
Speaker 1: to you and lick the dust of your feet. Then
Speaker 1: you will know that I am the Lord. Those who
Speaker 1: wait for me shall not be put to shame. Can
Speaker 1: the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives
Speaker 1: from a tyrant be rescued? For it, thus says the Lord,
Speaker 1: Even the captives of the Mighty shall be taken, and
Speaker 1: the prey of the tyrant shall be rescued. For I
Speaker 1: will contend with those who contend with you. I will
Speaker 1: save your children. I will make your oppressors eat their
Speaker 1: own flesh, and that we shall be drunk with their
Speaker 1: own blood, as with wine. Then all flesh shall know
Speaker 1: that I am the Lord, your savi, your redeemer, the
Speaker 1: Mighty one of Jacob. Thus says the Lord. Where is
Speaker 1: your mother's certificate of divorce with which I sent her away?
Speaker 1: Or which of my creditors is it to whom I
Speaker 1: have sold you? Behold your iniquities. For your iniquities were
Speaker 1: you sold? And for your transgressions was your mother sent away?
Speaker 1: Why when I came was there no man? Why when
Speaker 1: I called was there no one to answer? Is my
Speaker 1: hand shortened that it cannot redeem or have I no
Speaker 1: power to deliver? Behold by my rebuke. I dry up
Speaker 1: the sea. I make the rivers a desert. Their fish
Speaker 1: die the stink for lack of water, and die of thirst.
Speaker 1: I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering.
Speaker 1: And so now the servant speaks again. The servants speaks
Speaker 1: up regarding the qualifications that the Lord God has given
Speaker 1: him to bring all of this about. He gives us
Speaker 1: these four the Lord Gods. The Lord God has given
Speaker 1: me the tongue of those who are taught, that I
Speaker 1: may know how to sustain with a word. Him who
Speaker 1: is weary morning by morning he awakens. He awakens my
Speaker 1: ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord
Speaker 1: God has opened my ear. And I was not rebellious.
Speaker 1: I turned not backward. I gave my back to those
Speaker 1: who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out
Speaker 1: the beard. I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
Speaker 1: But the Lord God helps me. Therefore I have not
Speaker 1: been disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like a flint,
Speaker 1: and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
Speaker 1: He who vindicates me is near, who will contend with me.
Speaker 1: Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let
Speaker 1: him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me.
Speaker 1: Who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will
Speaker 1: wear out like a garment, and the moth will eat
Speaker 1: them up. Who among you fears the Lord and obeys
Speaker 1: the voice of his servant. Let him who walks in
Speaker 1: darkness and has no light trust in the name of
Speaker 1: the Lord and rely on his God. Behold all who behold,
Speaker 1: All you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with
Speaker 1: burning torches, who walk by the light of your fire,
Speaker 1: by the tortures that you have kindled, This you have
Speaker 1: from my hand. You shall lie down in torment. This
Speaker 1: is the word of the Lord. Thanks Peter, God, thank
Speaker 1: you for your focus, your attention, your stamina, both in
Speaker 1: your back and your mind. There's some complexity to this
Speaker 1: pasage of scripture. Here this vision that Isaiah gives to
Speaker 1: the people, and Isaiah means for these pictures to be
Speaker 1: incorporated in the forward vision of the people. These people
Speaker 1: who are clearly discouraged, even despondent, to lift their eyes
Speaker 1: and as you see number of times throughout this passage,
Speaker 1: trust the Lord rely on your God, wait on the Lord.
Speaker 1: That's what he's calling them to. It's not just calling
Speaker 1: to them with a mere assertion. He's calling to them
Speaker 1: with a vision, a forward vision of what God is doing,
Speaker 1: what God is up to, and he gives it to them.
Speaker 1: I think in like maybe we could call three pictures.
Speaker 1: Three pictures that Isaiah says, incorporate this into your forward
Speaker 1: vision lest you be discouraged. Here's the first picture. Here's
Speaker 1: the first picture. The servant's mission to the world. The
Speaker 1: servant's mission to the world, which means praise the Lord
Speaker 1: to us, to us, and we'll see also through us.
Speaker 1: I mean this starts out with a word to the
Speaker 1: whole world, to people all over the world. It says,
Speaker 1: listen to me o coast lands, which is a Biblical
Speaker 1: term really for gentiles. It's one of the ways that
Speaker 1: the Bible refers to gentiles. Pay attention, you peoples from Afar.
Speaker 1: This is for everybody, This includes San Antonio twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: It's for us. The servant, he says, is going to
Speaker 1: be given as a covenant. Praise the Lord. The servant
Speaker 1: will be given, not just make a covenant, not just
Speaker 1: announce the covenant, not just explain a covenant. The servant
Speaker 1: will be given as a covenant for the people, and
Speaker 1: in doing so he will ultimately bring this about. The
Speaker 1: people will be freed, fed, led, gathered in, gathered and comforted,
Speaker 1: says verse nine, saying to the prisoners, come out, appear.
Speaker 1: I am bringing about freedom. The servant says, I am
Speaker 1: a covenant that will bring about freedom for the world.
Speaker 1: It was too light a thing that I be just
Speaker 1: to restore the tribes of Jacob. I am being given
Speaker 1: as what do we say at Christmas time, the light
Speaker 1: of the world. This is for us and not just
Speaker 1: freed also fed verse nine. They shall feed along the way,
Speaker 1: so they shall not hunger or thirst, and the servant
Speaker 1: will lead us. Verse ten. He who has pity on
Speaker 1: them will lead them. This is exactly what Revelation picks
Speaker 1: up and speaks of the Lamb who is amongst them,
Speaker 1: who has pity on them, and who will lead them
Speaker 1: and not just lead them, gather them. Verse twelve. These
Speaker 1: shall come from Afar. And I don't think you can
Speaker 1: get much farther from Israel than San Antonio, can you?
Speaker 1: Is it? Like? Not exactly on the opposite side of
Speaker 1: the world from the north and from the west, and
Speaker 1: they shall be Verse thirteen, they shall be comforted. The
Speaker 1: Lord has comforted to his people and will have compassion
Speaker 1: on his afflicted. God has basically taken the events of
Speaker 1: the redemption of Egypt. You know that story. God redeems
Speaker 1: his people out of slavery from Egypt, and he has
Speaker 1: taken the story of his redemption from Babylon, calling the
Speaker 1: exiles back, and he said, I am doing something greater
Speaker 1: and for all the world. This light in my servant
Speaker 1: will be of this sort in a spiritual way for
Speaker 1: every person in the world, every kind of person, at
Speaker 1: least no kind of person will be excluded from this.
Speaker 1: Come on coast lands, pay attention to people from from
Speaker 1: the north, from the west. I am going to do
Speaker 1: this on a worldwide scale as a matter of spiritual
Speaker 1: redemption through my servant. And that's what we see in
Speaker 1: the New Testament. You who were far off, Paul says,
Speaker 1: had been brought near by the blood of Christ. That's
Speaker 1: us this picture again, what are we talking about. We're
Speaker 1: talking about a picture of what God is doing in
Speaker 1: this world and with this future that should move us
Speaker 1: to lift our eyes from the circumstances of the day
Speaker 1: to day, place them on what God is up to,
Speaker 1: and therefore walk in trust instead of discouragement. That's what
Speaker 1: Isaiah's about with these people. That's what Isaiah's about with
Speaker 1: us people. But not only is this mission to us,
Speaker 1: It's also meant to be through us. You see what
Speaker 1: Isaiah says about the servant here the light of the
Speaker 1: world to gather the nations. This is exactly what Paul
Speaker 1: says in Acts thirteen when he says, I gotta go.
Speaker 1: I gotta go. Tell everybody about this, because, as it says,
Speaker 1: I am a light to the nations. Hold on a second, Paul,
Speaker 1: are you saying you're the light to the nations. No,
Speaker 1: I am in the light of the nations. I am
Speaker 1: of the light of the nations. I'm a servant of
Speaker 1: the light to the nations. I worship and follow the
Speaker 1: light to the nations. And so I must go. This
Speaker 1: mission that has come to you has also been given
Speaker 1: to you. It's been given to us. But listen, if
Speaker 1: you're here this morning and you are not a believer
Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ, you need to understand this is not
Speaker 1: a book about some other people long ago. Yes, it's that,
Speaker 1: But it's not only that. This is the plan of
Speaker 1: God and the mission of Christ that is sent to
Speaker 1: you Christian. It's been sent to you, and it's working
Speaker 1: through you. And if you're here and you haven't come
Speaker 1: to trust in Christ, this call this light that we
Speaker 1: sing about, that we proclaim, this light is meant for
Speaker 1: you to see and walk towards. That's the first picture
Speaker 1: that Isaiah gives us. But between that day, that day
Speaker 1: of ultimate joy and singing, you see how the earth
Speaker 1: sings and the heaven sings, and the mountain sings, and
Speaker 1: people are fed and freed and led and gathered and comforted.
Speaker 1: Between that day and this day that includes difficulty needs.
Speaker 1: Between those two, the people can get discouraged. Amen. And
Speaker 1: so he gives us this second picture. He gives us
Speaker 1: this second picture directly in response to discouragement. Do you
Speaker 1: see it there? In verse fourteen, Verse fourteen, the people
Speaker 1: of God say this, the Lord has forsaken me. My
Speaker 1: Lord has forgotten me? Does God forget his people? But
Speaker 1: you know that the answer I mean here we are
Speaker 1: in church, the church answer is not wrong. But do
Speaker 1: we always see it? Do we see that God is
Speaker 1: committed to his people. Is that a part of our
Speaker 1: forward vision of reality? Or do we sometimes lose sight
Speaker 1: of that as we just look at the circumstances of
Speaker 1: the day. Okay, I won't make you answer that out loud.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go ahead and do that for you. The
Speaker 1: answer is yes, yes, sometimes we don't see it. And
Speaker 1: so Isaiah says, I want you to have a picture
Speaker 1: of God's commitment to his people, and he gives it
Speaker 1: to him in these ways. Number One, see that if
Speaker 1: you're his, God can't forget you. If you're his God
Speaker 1: can't forget you, He responds in verse fifteen through seventeen.
Speaker 1: Can a mom forget her nursing baby? I was talking
Speaker 1: to someone in between the services just this morning, and
Speaker 1: she said, I want you to know that that's not
Speaker 1: just a mental thing. That's a physical thing. Like, I
Speaker 1: don't know you you tell me. She's like, if a
Speaker 1: mom is away from her nursing baby or that baby
Speaker 1: cries out, she hand forget that baby. There's a physical
Speaker 1: suffering and distress that she goes through in response to
Speaker 1: the suffering of that child. She can't forget that child.
Speaker 1: It's not just a mental thing. It's all the way
Speaker 1: down to the physical level. I believe you. I've lived
Speaker 1: with a nursing mom date number one, date number one
Speaker 1: after we had a kid. I don't think we made it.
Speaker 1: Twenty minutes, we're back to the house. I can't leave
Speaker 1: him here, says I can't forget you. You are carved
Speaker 1: into my hand. What a picture. That's what Isaiah means
Speaker 1: to give us is pictures. This is his picture. Your
Speaker 1: name is been graven into my hands. How will I
Speaker 1: forget you? Your mind? I can't Not only can I
Speaker 1: not forget you, I have included you. Listen speaking to
Speaker 1: us here in San Antonio. Do you realize do you
Speaker 1: have a picture? Do you have a picture of the
Speaker 1: way God has included you amongst his people. This is
Speaker 1: what he says in verses eighteen through twenty one. My
Speaker 1: people are going to be gathered so much that they're
Speaker 1: not all gonna fit. It's gonna feel crowded. It's gonna
Speaker 1: feel like our lobby. There's not room for me. This
Speaker 1: place is too narrow for me. He says to the
Speaker 1: people that his people at the time, there is going
Speaker 1: to be so many of y'all throughout. They're gonna be
Speaker 1: gathered throughout all the world. My real people that they're
Speaker 1: they're gonna you are gonna put them on like jewelry,
Speaker 1: like a bride puts on jewelry. It's gonna be glorious.
Speaker 1: And not only that, not only can he not forget you,
Speaker 1: not only has he included you, He's welcomed you in
Speaker 1: as family. That's what it says in verses twenty two
Speaker 1: through twenty three. I'm gonna raise my signal, God says
Speaker 1: to people all over the world. And they're gonna come
Speaker 1: in like family. Kings are gonna be like your fathers.
Speaker 1: Queens are gonna be like your mothers. They're gonna honor
Speaker 1: my people. They're gonna join them. Those who wait for
Speaker 1: me shall not be put to shame. They won't be forgotten.
Speaker 1: They're gonna be included. They're gonna be family. Just trust me.
Speaker 1: Look at what I'm doing. I will ultimately rescue you,
Speaker 1: he says in twenty four through twenty six. I can
Speaker 1: rescue whomever I want from whatever I want. Everyone will
Speaker 1: know that I am the savior of my people. That's
Speaker 1: the picture that God wants us to have of what
Speaker 1: He's doing and where this is all going. And then lastly,
Speaker 1: this He says, include this in your picture, include this
Speaker 1: in your forward vision. I can discipline you without severing
Speaker 1: from you. I can discipline you without severing from you.
Speaker 1: I can't forsake you, I can't forget you, but I
Speaker 1: can discipline you. That's what he's speaking about. In the
Speaker 1: first few verses of chapter fifty, when he says where's
Speaker 1: the divorce certificate, what he's saying is, yes, yes, I
Speaker 1: separated from you. I distanced myself from you, but it's
Speaker 1: not final. You don't have a divorce certificate. You can
Speaker 1: show me. Yes, I put you away for your sins.
Speaker 1: I disciplined you, but it's not forsaking you. He says, yes,
Speaker 1: I sold you into a slavery. It's true, for your sins,
Speaker 1: I was discipline you, but it's not like I was
Speaker 1: one of those guys who owed so much money I
Speaker 1: had to sell you. I wasn't broke, I wasn't in debt.
Speaker 1: I had purposes in this. I can discipline you for
Speaker 1: your transgressions. I can do it without severing from you.
Speaker 1: I am committed to my people. Those who trust in
Speaker 1: me will not be put to shame. I am like
Speaker 1: a mother with a nursing baby, I can't. I couldn't
Speaker 1: forget you. You were like one whose name I have
Speaker 1: carved into my hand. How can I forget my people?
Speaker 1: I want to ask you. Does your forward vision of
Speaker 1: what God is doing, what He's all about his big
Speaker 1: plan is Does your vision include a clear biblical picture
Speaker 1: of how committed He is to you?
Speaker 2: Not because of anything you've done, not because of anything
Speaker 2: you've earned, but because of the work of Jesus Christ
Speaker 2: and God's love towards those who are His, those who
Speaker 2: are trusting him, He will.
Speaker 1: Not let down. Do you have a clear picture of
Speaker 1: His commitment to you? If you're here this morning and
Speaker 1: you would say, I don't think I'm a believer in
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, I'm not trusting him as you're describing. I
Speaker 1: have a couple of questions. What would a clear picture
Speaker 1: of a living God's commitment to you like this do
Speaker 1: in your heart? How would it change the way your
Speaker 1: soul interacts with your world? How would it change the
Speaker 1: way you conduct yourself and speak to others and act
Speaker 1: in this world where you are headed. If you had
Speaker 1: a picture of what kind of commitment God has to you,
Speaker 1: how might it change where you think you were headed
Speaker 1: in this world. I know there are other questions we
Speaker 1: could ask, and I think we should ask them. Here's
Speaker 1: a couple of questions I want to brack it out
Speaker 1: for right now, Like how could you know that these
Speaker 1: claims from scripture are true? Good question? How could you
Speaker 1: know that this is true? Is this a true picture?
Speaker 1: Let's set that aside for a minute, just a moment.
Speaker 1: Or what would it take to really belong to God?
Speaker 1: How does one become someone who really belongs to God?
Speaker 1: Great question, Let's get to it in a moment. What
Speaker 1: I want to ask you is what would it take
Speaker 1: to trust him? What would it take? What would he
Speaker 1: have to do to move in your conscience? What would
Speaker 1: he have to present to you in scripture? What would
Speaker 1: you have to see in the life of his people
Speaker 1: or become convinced of to move from I'm not trusting
Speaker 1: this Jesus or his work too. I'm willing to put
Speaker 1: my life in his hands. It's a real questions. I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to answer it for you, but I'd love
Speaker 1: for you to answer for yourself. We'll come back to
Speaker 1: those other questions in just a minute as we deal
Speaker 1: with this third picture, because the next picture that we
Speaker 1: see in the last and final picture here is how
Speaker 1: does this mission of God to the world, How does
Speaker 1: his commitment to his people actually get worked out? How
Speaker 1: does this work? And that brings us back to the servant,
Speaker 1: this third picture of the servant and how God has
Speaker 1: qualified him. That's what the servant speaks of here. The
Speaker 1: servant is completely qualified to call on you for trust.
Speaker 1: That's what he says. I'm calling you to trust, and
Speaker 1: I'm qualified to do it. That's his exhortation. Let him
Speaker 1: who walks in darkness and has no light trust in
Speaker 1: the name of the Lord. And then he lays out
Speaker 1: these qualifications from God's hands. He says, Number one, I've
Speaker 1: received teaching. That's what he says. In verse four, he says,
Speaker 1: verse four, the Lord God has given me the tongue
Speaker 1: of those who are taught. I can speak a word
Speaker 1: to him who is weary and sustain him. Interestingly, this
Speaker 1: is almost exactly how the New Testament speaks of Jesus,
Speaker 1: come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden,
Speaker 1: learn from me. Says I've been qualified by the Lord
Speaker 1: God through being given obedience. He says. In verses five
Speaker 1: and six, he says, the Lord God has opened my ear,
Speaker 1: and I wasn't rebellious. I didn't turn back. I gave
Speaker 1: my back to those who strike. I didn't hide my
Speaker 1: face from disgrace or spitting. Again. Interestingly, this is exactly
Speaker 1: how the New Testament speaks of Jesus Christ. Though he
Speaker 1: was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Speaker 1: And what did he suffer, Well, Matthew says, they spit
Speaker 1: in his face, slapped him. And yet, and yet the
Speaker 1: servant is also qualified by the Lord God through his vindication,
Speaker 1: as it says in verse seven and eight, says, the
Speaker 1: Lord God helps me. Therefore, I have not been disgraced.
Speaker 1: I've set my face like a flint. This is also
Speaker 1: how the New Testament speaks of Christ. Vindicated by his
Speaker 1: resurrection and knowing what was to come, he set his
Speaker 1: face toward Jerusalem to experience crucifixion on your beath. That's
Speaker 1: how this vision is coming together. Last servant is qualified
Speaker 1: by the Lord God by being given judgment in his hand,
Speaker 1: says in verses nine through eleven, says, the Lord God
Speaker 1: helps me. Let him who walks in darkness and who
Speaker 1: has no light trust in the name of the Lord.
Speaker 1: But Behold, all of you who kindle the fire, who
Speaker 1: equipt yourself with burning torches, walk by the light of
Speaker 1: your fire. You'll have this from my hand Torment judgment.
Speaker 1: This is exactly how Jesus speaks of himself. And John
Speaker 1: says for judgment, I came in the world. All authority
Speaker 1: in heaven and earth has been given to me, he says.
Speaker 1: In Matthew and elsewhere it says, this one who became
Speaker 1: a man has now been given the authority to judge
Speaker 1: all mankind. Because he became a man, he died as
Speaker 1: a man, and he was judged for the sins of mankind.
Speaker 1: This is a picture of a servant completely qualified to
Speaker 1: bring about the future that God has described here. And
Speaker 1: this is the servant's exhortation. Look up and trust God,
Speaker 1: look up and rely on the Lord. Christ is calling
Speaker 1: you to trust the results of his redemption. This trust
Speaker 1: isn't something he's just calling you to though. It's something
Speaker 1: he's won for you. In all of these things, Christ
Speaker 1: has been validated in his teaching, lived it, and he
Speaker 1: died for it in his obedience. He lived in perfect
Speaker 1: obedience to the Father, and he died in perfect obedience
Speaker 1: to the father. In his vindication, God rose raised him
Speaker 1: from the dead, and in judgment, the New Testament says
Speaker 1: he is rightfully appointed judge. So Christ calls you to
Speaker 1: trust in God's plan and lift your vision higher than
Speaker 1: your circumstance. As the one who's won that vision for you,
Speaker 1: that future is yours because of him. Don't forget your
Speaker 1: Jesus by letting your eyes fall merely to the circumstances
Speaker 1: on the ground. Maybe the most important takeaway I could
Speaker 1: give you this morning, don't forget your Jesus by letting
Speaker 1: your eyes just fall merely to the circumstances on the ground,
Speaker 1: when He has won for you a vision of the
Speaker 1: future that is so much bigger and for the unbeliever
Speaker 1: this morning, that brings us back to the questions we
Speaker 1: sort of bracketed out before, like how could you know
Speaker 1: if these claims of scripture are true? Or how do
Speaker 1: you become a person who really belongs to God? The
Speaker 1: answer to both is having an encounter by faith with
Speaker 1: this servant, with the living Christ, to trust him and
Speaker 1: to trust his work the Bible. By those means, the
Speaker 1: Bible says that you become a person who really belongs
Speaker 1: to God and if you trust him, then you trust
Speaker 1: what he says to trust in, which is the scriptures.
Speaker 1: He backs them up. It kind of reminds me of
Speaker 1: this testimony I heard recently from from a guy named
Speaker 1: Paul kings King's North. Paul kings North is a British intellectual,
Speaker 1: was a environmental activist, and as an intellectual, he you know,
Speaker 1: wrote a lot of books and was on the you know,
Speaker 1: British lecture circuit and had a very humanistic and secular
Speaker 1: view of where is this all going, what is happening
Speaker 1: in this world and who's in charge of it? And
Speaker 1: the only answer that he had resources for was nothing
Speaker 1: good is happening, and when we're in charge? And so
Speaker 1: he explored Buddhism, and he explored actually wiccan really and
Speaker 1: then he made a mistake. He actually prayed, God, if
Speaker 1: you're out there, show me the truth. And he began
Speaker 1: to be moved in his conscience towards the things of Christ.
Speaker 1: And he began to see in the pages of scripture
Speaker 1: the living Christ and the truth of who Jesus is
Speaker 1: and what He's done. Even began to have dreams about
Speaker 1: the Living Christ. And he told his wife, I've just
Speaker 1: asked God if he's out there to show me the truth.
Speaker 1: And his wife, who wasn't a Christian, isn't a Christian,
Speaker 1: said you're going to become a Christian and he said,
Speaker 1: in his British way, I am not. He did not
Speaker 1: want that. Yet God again moved through scripture, moved in
Speaker 1: his conscience, moved him to the truth of who Christ
Speaker 1: is and what He's done. And just a few years
Speaker 1: ago Paul kings North became a Christian and was baptized.
Speaker 1: And now here's the thing. He has a completely different
Speaker 1: vision of the future. What's happening here, where this is
Speaker 1: all going and who's in charge? Now? Paul kings North
Speaker 1: will tell you in his very intellectual, very British way,
Speaker 1: the servant is on mission to the world. It's to
Speaker 1: me and it's through me. The Lord is committed to
Speaker 1: his people and the servant is qualified to get it done.
Speaker 1: Would you stand upry, heavenly Father, we ask that you
Speaker 1: would in fact move through this vision that you have
Speaker 1: given to your people, that we should have, that we
Speaker 1: should should get clarity on, that we should be driven by,
Speaker 1: that we should be moved by. Lord. Would you lift
Speaker 1: our eyes off of the mere circumstances of the day,
Speaker 1: and put our eyes on these clear pictures of your mission,
Speaker 1: your commitment, the qualifications of your servant and what he
Speaker 1: has done to bring about this future for us, for us, Lord,
Speaker 1: And as you do that, would you also compel us
Speaker 1: forward that the light of the world that has been
Speaker 1: shown to us, we would also show to others. That's
Speaker 1: the mission you've given us, and we asked that we
Speaker 1: walk it out with clear vision and trust in Jesus name. Amen,
Speaker 1: let's sing m hm.