[0:00] Psalm 34, Psalm 34, and we can read from verse 12.
[0:20] Psalm 34, Psalm 34, and we can read from verse 12.
[0:50] Psalm 34, and we can read from verse 12.
[1:20] Psalm 34, and we can read from verse 12.
[1:50] Psalm 34, and we can read from verse 12. The face of God is set against those that do wickedly.
[2:27] The face of God is set against those that do wickedly. The righteous cry unto the Lord.
[2:44] The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly.
[2:58] The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly.
[3:12] The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly.
[3:24] The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly.
[3:38] The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly.
[3:52] the Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. the Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Lord is set against those that do wickedly.
[4:06] The Lord is set against those that do wickedly. The Kingattend oppose the King himself oneth脱 mundo.
[4:16] Now David is set against those that do wickedly. He can't go weep his orders and keep.
[4:30] O heaven have he fall, and not so much just one of them can have broken he at all.
[4:55] Here shall the wicked saving ways, shall be a wicked judge.
[5:12] The Lord redeemed his endless souls, and perished not till the night.
[5:31] Amen. Let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord our God, as we gather in your presence and in your name, help us to appreciate these very things, that we are in God's presence as a worshipping people, and that we are in a special way found before the eye of God in this exercise of worship.
[6:12] You seek from us what you alone are worthy of receiving. For we were created by you, and we were created for you.
[6:28] And we so often neglect to contemplate that meaning, or that sense of belonging that is yours.
[6:46] We belong to you before we belong to anyone else, before we have ownership of anything ourselves.
[6:58] And yet in our selfishness and in our egocentricity, in the way that we live our lives here in this world, which forces us almost to think of what needs to come first, and at the first becomes our own need, and our own desire, and our own ultimate end.
[7:29] Whatever it is, whatever that may be, whether it is to achieve physical well-being, or mental well-being, or material gain, whatever it may be that is preeminent in our thinking, very often that means that the God who is God overall was neglected and forgotten, and indeed ignored.
[7:59] Lord, we pray for mercy, that you would pardon us for that most grievous sin, and that we would recognize that in our worship, there is an instruction given to us by which to redress this shortcoming in our lives, that this day is a day that you have appointed, even set aside for us, by which we could come and acknowledge the fact that we are your creatures, and that we were created for you.
[8:37] We pray that you would allow us to understand that, and in our reading recently, we were reminded of the wisdom of a young child who was asked, why do men and women take exception to this fact that God is the God who is sovereign, and who requires from us obedience and service, and to live our lives as though we belong to you?
[9:14] And why do we find it so objectionable? The simple answer was that we tend to look at God from beneath, and from the earth here, whereas the God that we look at is a God, God who is above us, who sits upon the throne of this universe that you have created, and all that is contained within its boundaries belongs to you, the stars, the sun, the moon, the planets, those that we know of, and many that are hidden from sight, the vast universe that is known to us, and parts of it perhaps that are yet to be explored or discovered, they are just things that we cannot conceive of, and yet your word requires us to believe that our God is a great God, and the greatness of that God is not limited by our inability to fathom the depths of that greatness, or even reach up into the heights of that greatness, or span the breadth of that greatness.
[10:42] Lord, help us to bow the knee before you in this act of worship today, thankful that we can come to worship in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer's name.
[10:54] May you bless us in his name, and may the blessings that he has secured for his people be ours. May you pour out your spirit upon us, as we are made in his name today, that we may have a share in what he has secured, by way of blessing through his own obedience, that took him to the cross of Calvary.
[11:18] We bless you for him, and bless you for his, for his obedience. Bless you that he became man, and so was, and continues to be God and man, and at the right hand that there is one who is, in a very real sense, made of the dust of the ground.
[11:43] He came to take that humanity to himself, and we bless you and thank you that necessity was upon him to do that, and that he became what he was not, in order to become something that was very real, and significant in the lives of those who are his.
[12:05] So we pray for a measure of understanding that would allow us to trust in him today, that we would yield our all to him, body and soul, that we would yield our life to him, and that we would seek by his hand to be directed as to how to live in this world that is so far, far removed from any knowledge of him or desire to know him in any meaningful way.
[12:32] So God bless us together under the sound of your word. Remember all present, be they young or old, remember them in their needs, whatever they may be, be they spiritual or be they material.
[12:47] There are many fears that assail us in our lives here in this world. We live at a time that is, again, a time of uncertainty where we're assailed once again with many evils that belong to this day.
[13:06] No sooner is the pandemic seemingly on the wane, but we find now a crisis that is affecting many in their lives materially, and we pray for all who may be concerned for that, those who have committed themselves and perhaps in a sense overcommitted themselves and find pressures to bear upon them that are difficult to bear, grant to them that they may look to one who is able to sustain them and to uphold them through these things.
[13:49] Remember young families and households that may be feeling these pressures most keenly. We remember them to you wherever they may be found, not just in our own community, but beyond.
[14:06] Think of the towns and the cities of our land, and we hear so much of those who are being driven into poverty by reason of these things that have taken place.
[14:20] So remember them, we pray. Remember the government of the day and all the challenges that are there to rule well. We pray that you would direct them, that they may look to God while we believe that there are so few of their number that have the ear of God or have an instinct for the eye of God being upon them.
[14:45] May they be given a sense of the divine presence even in their thinking, in their deliberations, and be they carried out as individuals or collectively.
[15:03] We give thanks for those who do have faith. May that faith be strengthened. May they be encouraged to bear testimony to Christ even in their lives as it is in the public domain.
[15:14] We remember the royal family. We pray for the king and the queen consort, and we remember the family as a whole and pray for them as they continue to grieve.
[15:26] And even as the nation in a measure grieves, we pray that that grief would be sanctified. We remember the parts of the world that are experiencing the turmoils of war.
[15:38] We continue to remember the Ukraine, and we see so many evils carried out there, and here are so many wrongs that are done. you are the God to whom all are answered.
[15:53] But the day will come, whatever we are, whoever we are, whether the wrong that we do is unseen by any. We know that the all-seeing eye of God is upon all, and we will answer to you in the ultimate, and we pray for that wisdom to bring your concerns and our cares for others to a throne of grace, that we may see the heel of the usurper being brought to task, and we pray that you would encourage us to see that God is able to bring good out of evil.
[16:35] We remember the nations of the earth that are in flux for whatever reason we think of places that have been affected in recent days by natural disasters, and we bring them to you, thinking of the places that have been affected by these storm surges in Canada and the states, and we pray, Lord, that you would remember other parts of the world like Pakistan and these nations that have either known death and famine and lack of water, and now they contend with flood and disease and all that accompanies that.
[17:17] We remember them to you and pray for your own people especially, but our prayers must envelop all peoples, whatever creed or colour, whatever faith or have no faith.
[17:31] We bring them to the God who is God over all, and we pray for your blessing, for your grace, for your goodness, to be made known whatever hands you use to bring suffering to an end.
[17:45] So hear our prayers and continue to bless us as a congregation, remembering each of the congregation, remembering those amongst us who are sorrowing and sad, those who have concerns for loved ones, we bring them to you and ask that you would remember them in their own circumstances.
[18:05] as we as a congregation anticipate, if we are spared to carry out our intention, we pray that you would bless us as we meet together as a congregation, remembering the death of Christ through the sacrament that you ordained by which that will take place.
[18:26] And we pray that you would strengthen faith and enable weak, trembling hands to reach out to elements that speak to us of a life-giving and strengthening ordinance.
[18:43] We ask, Lord, that you would do that for us and in us. Grant mercy for our many sins and cleanse us in Jesus' Redeemer's name. Amen. I'm going to read from the scriptures of the Old Testament and we're reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 42.
[19:09] Isaiah chapter 42. Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighted.
[19:24] I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles, and the isles and the isles shall wait for his law.
[19:43] He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth and the isles shall wait for his law.
[19:56] Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein.
[20:13] I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
[20:35] I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things do I declare before they spring forth I tell you of them.
[20:53] Sing unto the Lord a new song and his praise from the end of the earth. Ye that go down to the sea and all that is therein, the isles and the inhabitants thereof, let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice.
[21:09] The villages that cater doth inhabit, let the inhabitants of the rock sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains let them give glory unto the Lord and declare his praise in the islands.
[21:25] The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war, he shall cry, yea, roar, he shall prevail against his enemies. I have long time holden my peace, I have been still and refrained myself.
[21:40] Now will I cry like a travailing woman, I will destroy and devour at once, I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs, and I will make the river's islands, and I will dry up the pools, and I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, I will lead them in paths that they have not known, I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight, these things will I do unto them, and not forsake them, they shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, ye are our gods, hear ye deaf, and look ye blind that ye may see, who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger that I sent, who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant, seeing many things, but thou observest not, opening the ears, but he heareth not, the Lord is well pleased, for his righteousness sake, he will magnify the law, and make it honourable, but this is a people robbed, and spoiled, they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses, they are for a prey, and none delivereth, for a spoil, and none saith restore, who among you will give ear to this, who will hearken and hear for the time to come, who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers, did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned, for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law, therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle, and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not, and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
[23:44] May the Lord add his blessing to a reading of his word, and to his name be the praise. Well, boys and girls, as you go out to Sunday school, can I just say a few words to you?
[23:59] You are looking, I believe, at the life of Jacob, and Jacob was somebody who, in many respects, was not a nice man.
[24:17] His name sometimes is said to mean supplanter or deceiver, and at this point that you are going to be looking at today, I think you are going to look at the day that Jacob met the wife that God meant him to have.
[24:39] And when he met his wife for the first time, it was love at first sight. but unfortunately for him, he met somebody who was as crafty as he was, and he made Jacob stay with the family for many years more than he intended, because he very crookedly made Jacob stay, and in those days, it was a very different way of finding yourself a wife, and instead of having one wife, they would have several at that time.
[25:29] But in the story, we are told that having spent seven years serving his father-in-law, he said to his father-in-law, these words, Jacob said, seven years for Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days for the love he had to her.
[26:03] And these weren't his words, but this was what he felt. The seven years passed like a flash because of his great love for this wife that he longed to have as his own.
[26:21] And I think in many respects it speaks to us of something that is true about the nature of real love, genuine love, deep love, love that is not in any way a false love.
[26:42] And he felt that because of the love that he had for this woman that it didn't matter how long that he would have to wait before she would become his wife, that it was passing like a flash.
[26:58] Now I wonder if we know anything about that kind of love. it's spoken of here in a particular way but I think the gospel, the story that tells us about the love that Jesus has for his own, the love that his own has for him, it is of such a character, it is of such a quality that because of its existence many things, many things are almost invisible, many things are out of sight, even the passage of time.
[27:44] And I know that there are some Christians here today and there have been times, occasions in their life when maybe sitting with the Lord's people on an evening before they knew it, because they were so conscious of the presence of Jesus Christ and the love that Jesus had for them and the love that came to them through the Lord's people.
[28:16] The moments that they had together were just that, passed in a flash. And, you know, some people ask the question about what will heaven be like.
[28:30] And some people who don't know the Lord Jesus, they'll say, well, how boring. Sitting in heaven with nothing to do except looking at Jesus.
[28:42] And that's the way they look at it. It's as if it's going to be a nightmare, it's going to be something that is beyond compare, in the sense that they wouldn't want to experience that.
[28:57] But the very opposite is the truth, that the Lord's people cannot even begin to imagine what it's like. An eternity, a immeasurable amount of time in the company of Jesus, and it'll be just like the blink of an eye.
[29:18] Why? Because his love for them will be all prevailing, and their love for him will be perfect then, and nothing will compare to it.
[29:31] So in many respects there are things that we learn from Jacob about his life, his character, things that were not right. But in this one thought, I think it gives us a glimpse of something greater than himself, something better than himself.
[29:51] and that is the quality that belongs to love, especially when it is perfected. And I hope you'll try and think about it. It might be something that you haven't thought about, but I know that you, a person who's loved, every one of you is loved, and just think of what it would be like if that love was even greater and better than it is.
[30:18] Well, may God bless these thoughts. We're going to sing as you go out. Psalm 110. Psalm 110. And we're singing the whole psalm.
[30:31] The Lord did say unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thy foes a stone whereon thy feet may stand. The Lord shall out of Zion send the rod of thy great power in midst of all thine enemies.
[30:49] Be thou the governor. A willing people in thy day of power shall come to thee in holy beauties from morn's womb thy youth like Jew shall be.
[31:01] We can sing the whole psalm. The Lord did say unto my Lord. soul of God, will come to His name literate in CHOIR SINGS
[32:20] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS The Lord of peace forever.
[33:25] The glory does the white here o'er the sins of thy life.
[33:41] The Lord of peace forever.
[34:11] The Lord of peace forever.
[34:41] The Lord of peace forever. The Lord of peace forever.
[35:19] The Lord of peace forever.
[35:55] The Lord of peace forever. And them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord.
[36:06] That is my name and my glory will I not give to another. Neither my praise to graven images. Behold the former things are come to pass and new things do I declare before they spring forth.
[36:22] I tell you of them. And so on.
[36:56] And so on. We have to discover that for ourselves. And in what sense they are songs. It is another matter altogether. Because there is no evidence that they were ever sung.
[37:11] According to the late Professor John L. Mackay. We have no account given to us anywhere of these so-called servant songs sung by anyone.
[37:23] Anywhere. Anywhere. But we do know that at times God identified Israel as a servant. And that becomes problematic in this passage.
[37:40] And that becomes problematic in this passage. Because clearly from the context Israel is not the servant that is spoken of. There are times and there are occasions when clearly God means us to understand that he is speaking to his servant Israel.
[38:01] And that he is speaking to them and through them to others. But here plainly the servant is none other than the promised Messiah.
[38:16] And we can believe that with a fair amount of accuracy. Accuracy because in the gospel Jesus refers to this passage and applies the word of the prophecy to himself.
[38:34] This particular part of the prophecy. We know that there are other parts of the book of the prophecy of Isaiah where Jesus clearly says all these words.
[38:46] These words they are words that apply to him and none other. The most, the better known I suppose part of the prophecy of Isaiah is Isaiah 53.
[38:57] Where it speaks of the suffering servant. Again the servant is not Israel. Although Israel believes some of them at least to this day that the suffering servant is the nation Israel.
[39:12] But Jesus means us to understand that these words were applicable to him. And here in this passage.
[39:23] Again we can say with fair amount of certainty. That looking at his own circumstances he referred to this passage.
[39:37] And applied that to himself. You'll find that in Matthew chapter 12 if you want to follow it up. Where his situation there is such that he is reminded of what the prophet Isaiah said.
[39:55] Well we want to look at this passage and try and understand what it means. Because I think at the heart of what it is saying to us.
[40:09] It reminds us or teaches us the reason for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The importance of the Lord Jesus Christ to his people.
[40:20] Next Lord's day if we're spared we're going to be remembering the death of Jesus Christ. And the Lord's people are commanded to do that.
[40:32] And to remember him in his death until he comes. And we want to understand why that is relevant. Why that is important. You know so often you'll hear this mantra.
[40:48] That the scriptures are something that belongs to the past. It has no relevance to the present. It has no relevance to the future.
[41:00] But the believer cannot believe that. Because not only is the word that we find called the scripture. God's word.
[41:11] He is speaking to us through the word constantly. He is speaking into the context of our everyday life. And everything he has to say to us is relevant.
[41:26] And more often than not the relevance is found in what he is saying to us. About Christ. Our need of him. And how that need is met by what Christ has done.
[41:39] But looking particularly at these verses. In the opening four verses the Lord speaks about the servant. The servant.
[41:50] But when he moves on to verse five. He is speaking to the servant. Which is interesting. I would hope. You know the Lord is describing to us something.
[42:03] God is speaking to us about the nature of the servant. The character of the servant. The work of the servant. Speaking as it were.
[42:14] Pointing to him and saying this is what he is going to be like. This is what he is going to do. This is how he is going to do it. But then. Almost without drawing breath. He turns to the servant.
[42:26] And speaks to the servant. As if the servant. Of which he was speaking. Is standing beside him. And saying about him. This is what you will be doing.
[42:38] So. I want us to think of how we can. Actually come to understand that. By recognizing. Or identifying the person who is speaking.
[42:51] And then the person who he is speaking to. And then what he is saying. To that person. That needs to be through a burden.
[43:02] In order for it to be of input to ourselves. As if. Well it's. I suppose. Having read it. It shouldn't be difficult for any one of us.
[43:13] To understand. Who is actually speaking here. Because. It is clearly. The Lord God. That is speaking.
[43:24] Thus saith the God. God the Lord. He that created the heavens. And stretched them out. And so on. He. Identifies himself.
[43:35] By name. And also by. The activity. That can only be. The activity. Of the divine being.
[43:47] Only God can do. The things that are. Listed there. There are many. Names. That God is. Known by. But.
[43:58] What is. Never. To be overlooked. Is that. The names.
[44:10] That he is. Known by. Are names. That he has given himself. They are not names. That man has given. To him. We might think.
[44:21] That it is. Not. But it is not. God has chosen. To reveal himself. By name. And the names.
[44:32] By which he is known. Are names. By which he declares. His deity. His divinity. There is a passage. In a book.
[44:43] By WGT. Shed. Sermons to a spiritual man. And. In. In. In. In that book.
[44:54] He speaks about. The. The different languages. He says. For example. In our. English language. The name God.
[45:07] Comes from the word good. Good. It just. It just. It's a. It's a. It's derived. From the word good. That he is good. God is good.
[45:18] And he alone is good. That's scriptural. That's. An accurate description. Is. There is. None good. But God. We are told. But in the Greek. And in the Hebrew.
[45:29] Or in the. Greek. And the Latin. There is. The word. Theos. And the word. Deus. And they emphasize. Through these names.
[45:42] That. What is true of him. In this passage. Is true. Of God. He. Orchestrates. He. Organizes.
[45:53] He. He. Arranges. He. Governs. Creation. He is. It's. A. It's. A.
[46:04] Sustainer. And that is again. Implied. By the name. That you find. In these languages. Latin. And. Greek. But then he said.
[46:15] In the Hebrew. Which. Is the language. Of the Old Testament. Mostly. The name. That. The Hebrew. Presents.
[46:26] You with. Is the name. That God. Gives. To himself. A name. That. Tells us. Not something. About. What kind.
[46:37] Of God. He is. What his attributes. Are. What the quality. Of his being. Is. But rather. The fact. Of his being. That.
[46:48] That. Is. What. Is. What. Is. That. Is. My name. I. Am.
[46:59] That. I am. Is. Is. Is. Is. Is. Is. Is. That. This.
[47:10] God. Is. Is. Is. His. I. If. If. Is. If.
[47:21] Is. If. Of. If. Those. Is. If. If. You. Are.
[47:33] If. If. If. If. It. If. You. It. sense in which this God can be anything other than God because as God he is, he was, he will be there's no decrease, there's no increase there's no change with him. Now that's the God who is speaking here. His names however we find them in the scripture they express to us, his being, his eternity, his unchangeableness, the fact that he is self-sustaining, he doesn't depend on his origin to be anywhere outside of himself. Creator and sustainer of all that we survey. And in verse 6 his redemptive activity, in verse 8 his jealousy oh you see that word jealousy is not a good word when we ever receive jealousy we see something that is usually considered negative but God himself says I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and what does he mean when he says that?
[49:01] Well Professor John L. Mackay says that when he's talking about the Ten Commandments and God describes himself as a jealous God he says there that what is rightfully his cannot belong to anybody else this is what John L. says whereas envy is a desire for what one for what is not one's own jealousy focuses on what one has a right to and is an intense preoccupation to take action to guard and keep and violate a relationship when God says to Israel that he is jealous of the relationship that the covenant has brought into existence he means that he is committed to maintaining it and dealing with all that threatens its integrity and this is the God that we have here speaking and his voice is directed to another and that other we believe is the Lord Jesus Christ
[50:13] Robert Murray MacJane says it is not a man speaking to a man it is not even God speaking to a man it is God speaking to his own son it is as if we were secretly admitted into the counsel of God as if we stood behind the curtains of his dwelling place you might read this and you say to yourself well there's so much happening there's so much going on here and yet that is the very thing that you must remind yourself of there is a description of deity there's a description of Godhood there's a description of activities that belong to that God but in all the activity here he is speaking to somebody else and that somebody else is God the son and he is saying to the son
[51:16] I have called thee in righteousness and that is the extraordinary thing about this passage it describes to us as if it were a statement made to the son by God the father concerning the activity of God the son that the father has given to him to carry out the result of which is also brought to light I have called you we used to be familiar with the idea of calling if a person was to embrace some kind of employment that used to be considered a calling if you were going to be a nurse or a doctor it was a calling if you were going to be a minister you were embracing a calling and many people understood that was their heart's desire that was their life's ministry mission their end product as it were was to fulfill this calling in the original sense of it there was never a task there was never an employment that was considered a lesser calling whatever the calling was some people falsely and wrongly thought that a person who did something that there was somebody else who did a greater greater thing but no essentially in the calling that a person has it is the acknowledgement that it is
[53:17] God that has given that person the sufficient gifts and graces to fulfill that role whether that role is to be a street sweeper or to be an academic to be an executive chief executive in some kind financial institution one calling in that sense is no greater than the other I was listening to the radio yesterday I was driving from Stornoway and I was listening to the radio and was talking about the modern day individuals that a person can actually have 12 up to 12 different jobs in their lifetime that is not just a job for a day but some person can leave their employment and fulfill another role and then another role and as many as 12 different roles can be fulfilled by them in their lifetime having trained and having filled that role but that's something else here what I want to emphasize is that it is God that calls this person that he is speaking to and that person is his son and he is saying
[54:36] I am giving you this calling I have given you this role and this role needs to be understood let's see if he didn't understand it Paul writes in Romans 5 for as by one man's disobedience many made sinners so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous Jesus is there pinpointed by the apostle as a person who has a particular role to fill a particular office and the scripture tells us that sometimes we don't think about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness of his calling but we must do that there are times when we find him having to deflect the interest of some who lived alongside him because their interest clashed with his calling they thought we have a king and let us anoint him let us enthrone him let us serve him but he had to say that is not my role that is not my calling
[56:01] I am here as one that serves not to to be served because this is what God has given me to do and the understanding of what is to be carried out by him is so difficult for us to apply because God says to the son I have called thee in righteousness and there is a slight difficulty in that statement because is it the righteous God whose calling is in view or is the view one of the righteous end of that calling either view is acceptable because God is the one calling and God is clearly righteous he is holy he is just all his activities there are never any reasons to question them but he is the one calling in righteousness it says but you notice
[57:14] I will hold your hand and will keep thee why was he going to say to the son I will hold your hand I will keep thee it's a very fatherly statement you would think the father speaking to the son I'm going to hold your hand I am calling you I am giving you this task I am giving you this ministry to fulfill but I will hold your hand and I will keep you which may seem strange to son but I think that there is a clue in the fact that God's calling to the son in the sense in which he is giving the son to be something so notice I will give thee for a covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles you might read that and say well what's the significance of that well this covenant that
[58:24] God gives is the covenant of his son Jesus Christ and usually maybe it's not at the heart of what is being said by God to the son but usually when a covenant was ratified when a covenant was put in place blood was applied and blood was applied because at the heart of what was said in a covenant arrangement was this I will do this for you if you will do this for me and if I will do this for you then blessing will be yours but if you do not do this if you fail to fulfill your part it will cost you it will involve you in your death you will lose your life because of it and that was at the heart of a covenant arrangement that belonged to the
[59:30] Old Testament dispensation the law of God required perfect obedience upon the pain of death failure on one part of that law required the person who was under that law to understand that death would result which is why there had to be a covenant of grace and Jesus here is given as a covenant and I think at the heart of what God is saying to the son the new covenant that I am given is you and we are law breakers by nature we cannot but break the law but when I give you I give somebody who is perfectly in accord with my will to obey is your delight to keep my law as your delight you go to
[60:31] Psalm 40 and Psalm is there is saying to this that very thing he reminds us of the obedience that Christ to do thy will I take delight for thou my God art he was in the world to do the the bidding of his father willingly not unwilling he wasn't forced to do it God gave him and the son came to do what he was to do willingly on Thursday evening we are speaking about the prayers of the saints and the prayers of intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ and the high priestly role of the son of God but if you read the Westminster confession it says this it pleased God in his eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord
[61:31] Jesus his only begotten son to be the mediated between God and man the prophet priest and king and savior of his church the heir of all things and judge of the world and to whom he did from all eternity give a people to be a seed and to be by him in time redeemed called justified and glorified the confessional statement there is it pleased God in his eternal purpose to give to choose and ordain his son and that's what's directed to brought to our attention here and what is Jesus to do when he comes well the end product is brought to our attention the gospel that is going to declare who he is and what he came to do to open the blind eyes to bring out the prisoners from the prison and then that set in darkness out of the prison house that is what you're going to do this is what your mission is this is how you're going to achieve this great end where
[62:45] God's glory is bound up that he has come to set the prisoners free that's God's doing there is no saint in glory that is there by virtue of their own saintliness there is no saint on earth who lives a godly life who will depend on the salvation of their soul because of their ability to live godly lives it is a requirement no doubt but it is not what brought them to the place that God has appointed to them not well his glory is tied to this my glory will I not give to another night through my praise to craven images again he goes back to his name this is the name of God and his name is tied into what God has done and what has God done
[63:46] I have given my son and my son has come and he needs to be held he needs to be my hand needs to be in his Robert Murray McJane in his own quaint way puts it like this that what we see here is God saying to his son you're going on a difficult journey as the sin bearer as somebody who will meet the wrath of the Holy God there is a notion of wrath to wade through don't draw back it's not that Jesus was oblivious to that fact but I think what God is saying to us is a reminder to us that what Jesus was doing he was doing it as a holy harmless and defiled one the son of the most high God who had no experience of an angry God he had no reason to fear a holy God because there was nothing in him that would merit the wrath of God unlike ourselves we are from the crown of our head to the soles of our feet covered in putrefying sores sin has marred our existence entirely our thinking our speaking our actions they are sinful and if we ignore that and the consequences of that then we do ourselves a disservice because we don't reckon on the appearance before a holy God in that condition but God is speaking to his son and he is saying
[66:03] I will hold your hand I will keep you I think that is very important for us to remember as the son bearer you go again to the time that he was there just prior to him going to the cross what was he saying when he was looking at the cup when he was looking at the cup that he had to drink father if it be your will let this cup pass from me he was as if it were sitting gazing into the contents of that cup a holy God dealing with the sins of the world where were the sins of the world to be found they were found on the head of his son and God justly dealt with the son as the son bearer and it is no wonder that he says to his son even then and again we find him saying it that by his own right hand he is held up it's a great mystery but it is the gospel it is a great provision but it is
[67:30] God's provision it is a great remedy for sin and it is Christ who supplies it I hope you see something of that Christ in this passage I hope you understand the significance of that Christ to God's people that would make them want to remember him their greatest fear and concern is that they don't remember him as often as they should and they don't have the same clarity of vision when they look upon the son as they would want but if God in his mercy gives you sufficient of a view of his glory to appreciate this Christ for yourself then you have all that is needed none of us we think that we need great insights into the truth of
[68:32] God we think that we need fantastic experiences of the love of God we think that we need to have any number of deep and meaningful encounters with God before we can ever be considered one of his that's not the true picture that scripture presents to us what the scripture says to us that we are to believe that God has given his son and that his son has come and that he died on the cross and that he died on the cross for our sins and if you by faith lay hold of that Christ however trembling your hold is that is all that God looks for and may God give you that ability even today let us pray help us oh God to come with with faith looking to the Jesus of the scripture looking to the
[69:33] Lord Jesus Christ as the one that you have supplied that he that came to us willingly and took delight in doing what you gave him to do grant mercy for our every shortcoming and bringing that Christ to light again today through the gospel forgive out every transgression in his name amen our closing psalm is psalm 85 and we'll sing verses 6 to the end that that in thee may thy people joy although not us revive show us thy mercy Lord to us to thy salvation give I'll hear what God the Lord will speak to whose folk he'll speak peace and to his saints but let them not return to foolish them to them that fear him surely near is his salvation that glory in our land we have our habitation truth met with mercy righteousness and peace kissed mutually truth springs from earth and righteousness looks down from heaven high yea what is good the
[70:51] Lord shall give our land shall yield increase justice to set us in his depths shall go before his face these verses from verse 6 that in thee may thy people joy sic be in hearts pure grass or birth in light show us thy mention in light to rest that in Good eyes are made of him.
[71:39] I hear what God the Lord will speak. To his old fields speak his.
[71:56] And to the saints of the Lord. We turn to holy space.
[72:14] To the saints of the Lord. To the saints of the Lord. His goodness son.
[72:30] That glorious empty heart.ądaed his will...
[72:48] to filled with mercyPipes' quella gliel' irgendwie His grace from earth and righteousness to stand from heaven's eye.
[73:22] If what is good the Lord shall give, other than shall yield Him grace, just as the sickness in the sea shall hold the Lord's name.
[73:53] Amen.