What characteristics does the ideal servant display?
[0:00] A fundamental question about being a Christian. What is being a Christian?! What is salvation? And who is this person, Jesus?
[0:12] ! What does he say about himself? Who is he? How can we understand him? How can we understand the claims that he makes on our lives?
[0:24] It's often said that Jesus is the answer, but of course that does depend on what the question was. If the question is this, who is the key to all the promises of the Old Testament of the Bible, then the answer is definitely Jesus.
[0:44] If the question is, who is the key to all the promises in the book of the prophet Isaiah, the answer is definitely Jesus.
[0:55] If the question is, who is the key to your life if you are a Christian, the answer ought to be Jesus.
[1:08] And if the question is, who do you need to have as the key to your life if you are not a Christian, the answer is still Jesus.
[1:19] It really is all about him. But it's just getting who the him is. So that's what we're going to do.
[1:29] We're going to look into the book of the prophet Isaiah and see how Jesus is described in this prophecy. And you will remember, if you've been along before, or let me tell you if you haven't been along before, that this prophecy tells us that God has an absolutely amazing plan that he has had for a long, long, long, long, long time.
[1:54] And his plan is to bless the whole world, including the nation that he chose, and including all the other nations too.
[2:08] And his plan in particular is to use his servants to do this. And in the book of Isaiah, we've found that there is a servant called the worm servant, who's basically us.
[2:22] And he plans to turn the worm servant into a bright weapon. There's the worm servant who becomes a bright soldier in the army of the Lord.
[2:34] And how's that going to happen? Because the worm servant is deaf and blind and sinful. And how is that servant going to be transformed? Yeah, and becomes bright like that.
[2:48] Or if you put it another way, right at the beginning of the book of Isaiah, there's the rubbish city, which he wants to turn into a beautiful city, to turn the faithless city, in which there is blood and violence and fickleness and idolatry, into the city which everybody says, I'd love to belong to that city.
[3:09] And all the nations will go up to it to belong to that city. How's he going to do that? And how's he going to bring his people home? Because that's another aspect, or another way of putting what he's going to do.
[3:22] He's going to bring all his people home. They're far away. And he's going to bring them back. And he's going to turn the desert that they travel through into a garden. And how's he going to do all those things?
[3:34] And although I've just said it in a couple of minutes, this is a huge question. And the book begs that question all the way through. How on earth is God going to change that situation into that situation?
[3:50] How's he going to do for those people what he says he'll do to make them into those people? It's a huge question. And in the chapters that we had read to us, we have the answer.
[4:07] And it is a very shocking, surprising, and wonderful answer. It's a staggering secret. And staggering meaning shocking, surprising.
[4:19] We've already met the ideal servant in some of the previous chapters. And it's said of him that he is tasked with bringing justice to the nations, which is more than just a few words.
[4:37] That means to bring royal rightness to the nations, all the nations that are topsy-turvy, higgledy-piggledy, sinful, corrupt, idolatrous. He's going to put them right.
[4:49] It doesn't mean that every single person in every single nation is going to be put right. But it means that God will bring that rightness into the whole sphere of the nations. Not just one ethnic group, but across a wide range of ethnic groups.
[5:04] And we saw the other time that, I think it was last week, that he will suffer a surprising setback. Why? Because he's delightful to the Lord.
[5:15] How does he get set back? But we also saw that he will rise up. And here in the chapter that we're going to look at, we find so much more about this servant.
[5:30] So what I'm going to do, really just to scratch the surface of this text, is to tell you some of the features of it. To look at his extreme rise. To look at his suffering.
[5:43] Which I'm going to say is substitutionary suffering. To look at his supreme success and the result of his suffering. And then I'll just wrap it up at that point.
[5:56] So please have your Bible open. And this text is so marvellous that you can keep on dipping into it and seeing new things.
[6:07] But let me just fly over the top of it first and make a few observations about this text. It starts in 52 verse 13 and ends in 53 verse 12.
[6:22] But the effect of the text goes on right through to the end of chapter 55. So let me first of all say it's poetic. I'm going to say it's enigmatic and repetitive.
[6:35] So let's do the poetic first. It is actually five very neat paragraphs or stanzas I think is the technical term. The first section, the first stanza of this poem is 52, 13 to 15.
[6:53] Which begins, see my servant. So the person speaking is the Lord. Because it's his servant. The Lord is speaking.
[7:03] The second bit is 53, 1 to 3. And that's we speaking. 53, who has believed our message.
[7:18] And we, end of verse 3, we esteemed him not. Now who's the we? And it might well be the worm servant is speaking we. We people who saw him and did or didn't understand him.
[7:33] And perhaps speak about him. Then the next one is 53, 4 to 6. Which talks about his sufferings.
[7:45] And here it is we who end up being swapped with him. Because like in verse 4.
[7:56] He took up our infirmities. And he carried our sorrows. So this whole business of substitution. Or an exchange.
[8:08] He suffers but the sins are ours. And then in 53, 7 to 9. It talks about him as a lamb. 53, 7 to 9.
[8:19] He was oppressed and afflicted. He did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And it talks about him being like a lamb. And then in the fifth stanza.
[8:32] Or fifth section. Which is verse 10, 11 and 12. This seems to go back to the Lord's viewpoint. It was the Lord's will to crush him.
[8:44] The Lord makes his life a guilt offering. And in verse 11. In the middle of that it says. By his knowledge.
[8:55] My righteous servant will justify many. And I give him a portion among the great. So it's gone back to speaking about the Lord. Yes. So it's quite neatly done.
[9:09] Okay. The next thing is. It's. We said it's poetic. It's enigmatic. Enigma. Is enigma Latin or Greek? Yeah.
[9:21] Latin or Greek. Is it a Latin word? Enigma? Do you have that in Italian? Or is it? It's Greek. Okay. Hard luck if you're Italian. It's not your word. Enigma.
[9:31] It means a riddle. Something that you can't quite easily work out. So there's lots of things here that people will say. What exactly does that mean? You say.
[9:41] I don't know. It's a bit enigmatic. It's a bit. It's a bit difficult to quite get the detail. Riddle. So one big riddle is.
[9:54] Is this one person? Or is this many people? And that's a very important question. So. Of the servants that the Lord has had.
[10:08] You remember the victorious servant? Those of you who are here for that. That was one person, wasn't it? Cyrus. You remember the worm servant? That was multiple people.
[10:20] Us. So is this an us or a him? And the rabbis say. I looked on a rabbinic website. And they say. It's definitely not one person.
[10:31] This is definitely the nation of Israel. But the New Testament says. Actually this is one person. The answer to the riddle.
[10:44] Is this is Jesus. The New Testament says it's one person. And there's things like poetic. So verse 14. His appearance was so disfigured.
[10:55] Beyond that of any man. His form marred beyond human likeness. Do we take that literally? To say that he was so bashed up. That nobody ever has been bashed up.
[11:06] Even worse. Or is it sort of a bit more poetic. And saying. He became repellent. There's things about that. There's things like in verse 15.
[11:17] He will sprinkle many nations. The word can mean. Sprinkle. Which is what you do with water. To make something clean. Like in a cleansing operation.
[11:28] Or it can mean startle. Startle. What's he going to do? Is he going to sprinkle many nations? Or startle many nations? And the word could be either.
[11:39] And maybe your translation. What translation does yours say? Marvel? So I've got in verse 52. Chapter 52 verse 15.
[11:52] I've got sprinkle. Sprinkle. Sprinkle. Startle. And of course the big riddle is. How can all this be fulfilled? Let me tell you also.
[12:05] It's repetitive. Because poetry tends to do that. There's repetition of the word form. Verse 14. His form was marred. Same as the word beauty. In verse 53 verse 2.
[12:18] There's a repetition of many. So you get that in verse 15. He will sprinkle many nations. Then in chapter 53.
[12:30] By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many. And verse 12. He bore the sin of many. And in the beginning of verse 12.
[12:41] The word great. Is literally the word many. So again you've got sort of words being used. To sort of stretch their meaning. And make you think what they're saying.
[12:52] The word sorrows is repeated. It's in verse 3. He's a man of sorrows. Verse 4. He carried our sorrows. Suffering is repeated. Sometimes translated differently.
[13:03] Verse 3. He's familiar with suffering. Verse 4. The word suffering is translated infirmities. Surely he took up our sufferings.
[13:14] Our infirmities. The word crushed is repeated. Verse 5. He was crushed for our iniquities. And it's in there in verse 10. It was the will of the Lord to crush him.
[13:27] Transgressions is repeated. Verse 5. He was pierced for our transgressions. And it's there in verse 8. Isn't it? For the transgression of my people he was stricken.
[13:41] Iniquities is repeated. Verse 5. He was crushed for our iniquities. Verse 11. He will bear their iniquities.
[13:53] So there's quite a wide vocabulary about sin. Evil. Wickedness. Corruptness. Going beyond boundaries. Twistedness. All these different thoughts about sin as it's described here in this vocabulary.
[14:08] Intercession is repeated. Although you might not get. You might not notice it in our translation. Verse 12. Says he made intercession for the transgressors.
[14:20] It's a word which means get in between. So if you put your hand in between the guard and the blade. You'll get your hands smashed. And he gets in between God's wrath and these people.
[14:33] And in verse 6. The word laid. Let me just check whether I'm telling you the right thing. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. I think that's the same word as intercession.
[14:44] He's got in between the iniquity and the Lord. And the Lord instead of laying it on us has laid it on him. Transgressors.
[14:55] I've already said that. Maybe that's a different word. And as it was read. You get this sort of constant repeating of certain themes.
[15:06] And it gives a flavor to it doesn't it. Sin. A man of sorrows. Somebody who gets treated the way sin deserves.
[15:18] But who isn't a sinner. And this sort of echoes and weaves its way through the whole thing. I don't think you can avoid the thought of punishment here.
[15:29] It's actually literally mentioned isn't it in verse 5. The punishment that brought us peace is upon him. This is not just somebody who accidentally suffers. It's somebody who suffers in the sense of getting what crime, sin deserves.
[15:50] It's a punishment thing. That's the word penal. Punishment. Okay. So that just gives us a little flavor and just reminds us of some of the words in there. So let's do these three things.
[16:01] His extreme rise. His substitutionary suffering. And his supreme success. So number one. His extreme rise. That's where it comes in. Let's do the rise. There it is.
[16:12] And before I just show you the verse. If you've been following through in Isaiah. You will know that the Lord is dead against people and things that raise themselves up against him.
[16:29] Woe to the lofty towers. Woe to the high mountains that will be brought down low. The Lord is by policy against anything that sets itself up against him.
[16:42] Yeah. Now see what it says about the servant. Verse 13. See my servant will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
[17:02] Those are breathtaking words. Raised. Lifted up. Highly exalted.
[17:13] There is only one other place I think in the whole Bible where you get that combination of words. Anybody like to guess where they've read already?
[17:24] Not today but we have read. High and lifted up. It begins I saw. High and lifted up.
[17:37] Hmm? No. No. In the book of Isaiah. Chapter. Chapter 6. And who is it that who is high and lifted up?
[17:48] The Lord. And I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And the train of his robe filled the temple. There is only one person of whom those words are said up to this point.
[18:02] And that is the Lord himself. High and lifted up. And it's said here about the servant. That is a striking thing. High and exalted.
[18:14] High and exalted. And you really wonder. How high is he actually going to go? Hmm. My servant will act wisely.
[18:24] That's his rise. He will act wisely. Meaning he will prosper. He will be successful. It's in 53.10. Where it says the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
[18:38] So he is going to rise so that the Lord's will prospers in his hand. And in 53.12 it says I will give him a portion among the great.
[18:54] And he will divide the spoils with the strong. At note. So whatever happens to him. He's going to end up in a remarkably high position.
[19:06] Remarkably rewarded. Rewarded even as high as the Lord on his throne. And so I think we should not be surprised.
[19:20] If we find that this servant is raised to the throne of God himself. And that this servant it might be said of him. Therefore God has highly exalted him.
[19:34] And given him the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow. And every tongue confess him Lord.
[19:45] To the glory of God the Father. That's how high this servant is going to rise. Let's look then at his sacrificial sufferings. So that was just very briefly looking at his rise.
[19:58] Let's look how far down he goes. Because a lot of this is how far down he goes. I'm just reading it through again yesterday. It's very moving.
[20:09] And inescapable. That he suffers. Let's go through the words that speak about his being. About his suffering.
[20:21] So just going through chapter 52 verse 14. He. His appearance was disfigured. His form.
[20:32] Was marred. Verse 3. He was despised. And rejected.
[20:44] So there's a sort of social suffering. He's despised and rejected. Verse. Verse 3 says. He's a man of sorrows. And familiar with suffering.
[20:56] Verse 4 says. That. He. Was. Stricken. By God. Smitten by him.
[21:06] And afflicted. And there's a set of words to do with sort of hitting. And. Striking. And. Smiting. And. Yeah. He certainly suffers.
[21:18] I'm going to put some blood into that picture. Verse 5. He was. Pierced. Pierced. Pierced meaning wounded. The sort of wound you get by something sharp.
[21:30] He was pierced. Verse 5. He was. Crushed. There was punishment. Verse 5. There were wounds.
[21:42] Verse 5. Verse 7. Says. He was. Oppressed. And. Afflicted. So the use of afflicted again. Verse 7.
[21:53] Says. Is that verse 7? It's actually verse 8. Again. Difficult to know quite how to translate it. By oppression. And judgment. He was taken away.
[22:04] Or. Was it. By oppression. And from judgment. He was taken away. Or does it say judgment was taken from him. That's the word mishpat. And.
[22:15] He. He brings mishpat. But he doesn't get mishpat. Mishpat. Sorry. It means. Royal rightness.
[22:27] He brings it. But he doesn't get it. Verse 8. He's cut off. From. The land. Of.
[22:37] The living. The nation was told. That if they didn't. Walk in obedience. In the end. They would be cut off. From the land. So.
[22:48] So the rabbis might be saying. Yep. Yep. This is definitely Israel. But it actually says. Cut off from the land of the living. And in verse. Nine. Do I mean verse nine.
[23:01] He was assigned. A grave. So. If that is a literal thing. It means. That he died. And verse 11 says. Talks.
[23:11] We've already said. That he was crushed. And in verse 11. There's the suffering. Of his soul. The suffering is like. Really hard work.
[23:24] Real. So the old version says. Travail. Of his soul. Meaning. The sort of hard work. That a woman. Experiences in labor. Or the sort of hard work.
[23:35] That slaves do. He will. After the hard. Hard work. Of his soul. And is that the end of the list. Well. You could make a long.
[23:45] Long list. But it. It speaks about suffering. Doesn't it. There's no way you can get away from that. It's not a cheerful. Bouncy. A poem. Just catalogues.
[23:58] His. Suffering. So he certainly suffers. Now. What's the explanation. For his suffering. Now the Jewish commentators.
[24:11] Say. That this is. The nation Israel. And that Israel is suffering. For her own sins. And paying for her own sins.
[24:22] Like she did. In chapter 40. Verse 2. Would you like to look at chapter 40. Verse 2. If you're not very good at finding places in the Bible. Don't worry. But if you like to follow it.
[24:33] 40. Verse 2. Does seem to say. That Israel pays for her own sins. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Proclaim to her. Her hard service has been completed. And her sin has been paid for.
[24:45] She has received from the Lord's hand. Double for all her sins. So by being in exile. And that generation dying out. It would appear that she paid for her own sins.
[24:56] Is that what's being said. In chapter 53. And I don't think it is. I don't think it is at all. Do you remember.
[25:07] That the ideal servant. Is tasked with. Saving the worm servant. You get it in 49.6. It is too small a thing.
[25:18] For you to be. My ideal servant. To restore the tribes of Jacob. To bring back those of Israel. I have kept. I will make you a light. For the Gentiles. That you will bring my salvation.
[25:29] To the ends of the earth. The ideal servant. Saves the worm servant. The worm servant.
[25:39] Doesn't save himself. And throughout this poem. The sufferings. Are substitutionary.
[25:52] Meaning. One person sinned. The sins deserve punishment. Another person. Pushes that person out of the way.
[26:04] And the punishment falls. On the person who has acted. As a substitute. I don't think you could possibly. Get away from this. Look at verse 4. Excuse me.
[26:18] Surely he took up. Our infirmities. And he. Carried. Our sorrows. Verse 5.
[26:30] He was pierced. For our transgressions. He was crushed. For our iniquities. The punishment.
[26:40] That brought us peace. That brought us peace. Was upon him. By his wounds. We are healed. We all like sheep.
[26:51] Have gone astray. Each of us has turned. To his own way. And the Lord. Has laid. On him. The iniquity. Of. Us.
[27:02] All. I don't think you can get away from. A substitutionary. Suffering. And this comes in.
[27:13] Where did this come from? I think. We have suddenly found ourselves.
[27:24] In the realm. Which the Old Testament speaks a lot about. But it's not the. Not the realm we've been in. Thus far. And this is the realm of animal sacrifice. Now the Old Testament.
[27:36] Has a very large. Apparatus. A very large. Pattern. Business. Of animal sacrifice.
[27:48] And they did that in the temple every day. And with an animal sacrifice. The human sinner. Says I've sinned. And will. Contaminate.
[27:59] The animal. By putting hands on the animal. The animal receives. This. Bad. Thing. And it goes from. The human.
[28:11] Onto the animal. Leaves the human. Enters the animal. And then the animal gets. Killed. And there's various things you can do with the blood. And various ways you can. Perform the sacrifice.
[28:22] But that's an animal. And this. Person. Is. Led. Verse 7. Like a lamb.
[28:35] To the slaughter. This is the. Quantum leap. The. This human being. Is treated.
[28:46] Like. An animal. Sacrifice. Extraordinary. Isn't it? It would. If you. If you read this for the first time.
[28:58] It would make you catch your breath. And then it would make you breathe. A wonderful sigh of relief. Because if you had been. Brought up in the Jewish scriptures.
[29:08] You'd be saying. All these animals die. Day after day. Places like a. Abattoir. All these animals die.
[29:19] But how can. Killing an animal. Deal with my sin. How can that possibly be. The bulls. The bull. The blood of bulls and goats.
[29:29] Cannot possibly take away sin. Can it? And here. In this single. Stroke. Isaiah says yeah. The answer to that is.
[29:42] Someone. Some person. Will. Be led like a lamb. To the slaughter. There's the lamb.
[29:53] There's the slaughter. Verse 10 says. The Lord. Makes. His. Life. A. Guilt. Offering. Again. That's a technical term.
[30:04] For. A sacrifice. The animal. Receives the sin. From the sinner. And dies in his place. And this. Servant. We had. A worm servant. And this servant.
[30:15] Is the lamb servant. What do you think. John the Baptist. Must have thought. On the day. That he saw Jesus. And said.
[30:27] Behold. The lamb of God. Who takes away. The sin of the world. What an amazing day. That must have been. When Jesus. Is acclaimed.
[30:37] As the lamb. Well. Before we just pass on from this. It.
[30:48] Proves to us. That there is such a thing. As human sin. It's not only Israel. It's not a sort of. Anti-semitic. Text. It. It's just talk about humanity.
[31:00] humanity. And. The whole poem says. That. There is a huge problem. About. Human. Sin.
[31:10] And is. Is it possible. That there is anybody. In this room. This morning. Who disagrees. With that. Is there anybody here. You don't have to put up your hand. But I.
[31:21] Wasn't. Wasn't that sort of question. But anybody here. In their heart. Say. Oh no. I don't think human sins. A problem. I've never sinned. I don't. I never have guilt. I never worry.
[31:32] About. What God thinks. About my life. I never worry. About what I think. About my life. I don't think there's anybody here. Who would disagree. That sin. Is the problem.
[31:43] And this text. Confirms that. It's all about. Dealing with. Human sin. And it goes further than that. That. The problem with human sin. Is not. What. It is what we feel.
[31:55] About it. That's certainly a problem. Conscience. Guilt. I don't think there's anybody. In this room. Who would say. Oh. Feeling bad about. Something I've done. I've never felt that.
[32:05] It's. I don't think anybody here. Is going to say that. Are they? It's not so much. What we feel. Although that is a real thing. It's what God feels. About it. That's.
[32:17] What does he think. What is. The just. Holy. Righteous God. Going to think. And how is he going to act.
[32:28] Against. Our human sin. That's the thing. Isn't it? God. And there is. A God. Ordained. Penalty. For sin. The Bible. Talks about. The wrath.
[32:39] Of God. And because. As our society. We're sort of tolerant. And laid back. About all sorts of things. All sorts of people do. And we have been taught. And we have learned.
[32:49] Not to feel. Too strongly. About sin. But God is not part. Of our society. And he hasn't been. Indoctrinated. In that sort of way. And the holy God.
[33:00] thinks. Sin. Is. An insult. To him. And a terrible thing. And he's not going to just say. Oh well. Each to his own. This text.
[33:11] Proves to us. That sin. Is so awful. That. God. Requires. Death.
[33:23] Under. Judgment. There's a God ordained. Penalty. Penalty. For sin. And this text. Shows us. That this.
[33:35] All these. Issues. Questions. Problems. How can God. Deal with this. Is solved. In this. Passage. By. The servant.
[33:46] Taking. The penalty. Instead of. Sinners. It's all here. In this passage. This is the center. Of everything. His sacrificial.
[33:57] Sufferings. Let me say. Thirdly then. Something about his. Supreme success. So the sufferings. The Bible. Has a theme. Of unjust.
[34:08] Suffering. There are people. Who just. Suffer in the Bible. And it's not. Particularly. Explained. Why. So. If you were. Listening. To this. Series. On. Joseph. He suffers.
[34:19] He gets. Thrown. Into prison. God. Uses it. For good. But it's certainly. Not at all. Clear. That. You know. He doesn't deserve that. It's just a miscarriage. Of justice.
[34:31] Now. This. Servant. Suffers. But it's not. Just. A miscarriage. Of justice. It is. Something.
[34:42] Which. Succeeds. In achieving. Something. So. Look at verse five. He was pierced. For our transgressions. He was. Crushed. For our iniquities.
[34:54] The punishment. That brought. Us. Peace. Was upon him. It brings us. Peace. By his wounds. We are healed. It changes.
[35:05] Something. In us. Verse 10. He dies. And yet. In verse 10. He will see his offspring. His descendants.
[35:16] His seed. And prolong his days. So. There's something. That goes onwards. From this suffering. Verse 11. Says. He will see.
[35:27] After the. Travail. Of his soul. He will see. The light. Of life. And be. Satisfied. So. This is. Something.
[35:37] Isn't it? The servant. Has suffered. But he now. Says. That suffering. Achieved. Something. Which I am. Totally.
[35:47] Totally. Satisfied. With. And there. Will be a day. In which. The Lord Jesus. Says. Look at all. These people. That I have.
[35:59] Successfully. Redeemed. And I am. Totally. Satisfied. With the outcome. Of my work. He will see. The travel. Of his soul. And be satisfied.
[36:10] That says something. About the power. Of the cross. Actually. Doesn't it? He doesn't. Die on the cross. Just. In the hope. That people. Might be saved. Or.
[36:21] Not really quite sure. What the response. Will be. He achieves. Something. By the cross. He will see. The travel. Of his soul. And. Be satisfied.
[36:35] Verse. Eleven. Says. By his knowledge. My. Righteous servant. Will. Justify. Many. He.
[36:46] Will bear. Their. Iniquities. And we come back. To this. Thought. Which. Paul. In the New Testament. Is going to pick up. And run with. Of. Being. Brought.
[36:59] To the position. Of being. Declared. Righteous. And. Underlying. The word. Justify. Is. The word. In the original. Righteous.
[37:10] Righteous. Righteousness. If. The servant. By. His death. Will. Bring. Many. Paul. Will take that word.
[37:20] As well. Many. To the position. Of being. Declared. Righteous. Being. Declared. Not. Guilty. Lord.
[37:31] I've sinned. Yeah. But you're. Not. Guilty. Lord. Look at all the things. I've done. Yeah. But you're. Not. Guilty. My. Conscience. Is. Troubled. Well.
[37:42] It shouldn't be. Because. Those sins. Are wiped. Away. Forgotten. Dealt. With. By. His. Knowledge. My. Righteous.
[37:52] Servant. Will. Justify. Many. Make. Them. Counted. As. Righteous. Isn't. That. A. Wonderful. Privilege.
[38:02] For. Us. This. Morning. If. We. Are. Christians. In. Christ. That. Whatever. Sins. We. Have. Committed. He. Does. Not. Count. Them. Against.
[38:13] Us. Because. What. He. Counts. Is. What. The. Servant. Did. For. Us. Verse. 12. He.
[38:23] Is. Going. To. Be. Greatly. Rewarded. Because. Of. What. He. Did. For. Sinners. I. Will. Give. Him. A. Portion. Among. The. Great. He. Will. Divide. The. Spoils. With. The. Strong. Because. He.
[38:33] Poured. Out. His. Life. Unto. Death. He. Was. Numbered. With. The. Transgressors. He. Bore. The. Sin. Of. Many. He. Made. Intercession. For. The. Transgressors. And.
[38:43] God. Says. Because. You. Done. This. You. Will. Be. Greatly. Rewarded. You. I'm. Addressing. To. The. To. The. Ideal. Servant. The.
[38:54] Christ. Is. Greatly. Rewarded. So. I'll. Quote. That. Text. Again. Having. Been. Made. A. Servant. Having. Humbled. Himself. Having.
[39:05] Become. Obedient. To. Death. Even. Death. On. A. Cross. Therefore. God. Has. Highly. Exalted. Him. Given. Him. The. Name. That. Is. Above. Every. Name. That. At. The.
[39:16] Name. Of. Jesus. Every. Knee. Should. Bow. And. Every. Tongue. Confess. That. Jesus. Christ. Is. Lord. To. The. Glory. Of. God. The. Father. This. Servant. Has.
[39:27] Supreme. Success. In. What. He. Set. Out. To. Achieve. That's. Grand. Isn't it? I'm. Allowed. To. Say. Grand. Slightly. Yorkshire. Word. I.
[39:37] That's. Right. Grand. That is. I. Think. It. Is. Grand. His. Death. Was. Not. In. Vain. His. Death. Was. Not. Just. A. Gesture. His.
[39:47] Death. Achieved. Redemption. Salvation. He. Will. See. The. Travel. Of. His. Soul. And. Be. Satisfied. So.
[39:58] We. Looked. At. His. What. Have. We. Looked. At. His. What. Was. The. First. Thing. I. Can't. Remember. What. What. Did. I. Say. The. First. Thing. Was. Is. Right. Yes.
[40:10] Extreme. Rise. And. Then. His. Sufferings. Something. Success. Extreme. Rise. And. Supreme.
[40:20] Success. Let's. Just. There's. So. Much. In. Here. You. Can. Come. Back. To. This. Time. Again. But. Let's. Just. Draw. A few. Conclusions. From. It. What. We. To. Make. Of. This. Well. Number. One.
[40:31] It. Is. About. Jesus. Let's. Realize. That. He. Was. Led. Like. A. Sheep. To. The. Slaughter. A. Diplomat. Was. On. His. Way.
[40:42] Home. In. His. Mercedes. Going. Through. The. Desert. And. He. Been. In. Jerusalem. And. He. Picked. Up. A. Precious.
[40:52] Copy. Of. The. Sacred. Books. Of. Jerusalem. He. Had. In. His. Hand. The. Book. Of. The. Prophet. Isaiah. And. As. He's. Going. Along. In. The. Mercedes. He's.
[41:03] Reading. He. Was. Led. Like. A. Lamb. To. The. Slaughter. Well. He's. Being. Driven. He's. Being. Driven. Yes. He's. Got. The. What.
[41:14] To. Call him. The. Chauffeur. Is. Up. There. He's. Reading. And. Driving. He's. Reading. And. Being. Driven. And. He. Looks. Out. Of. The. Window. And. There's. This. Scruffy. Head. Sort. Of. Jumping.
[41:24] Up. Down. Outside. Following. The. Mercedes. And. Winds. Down. The. Window. And. The. Chap. Running. Alongside. Him. Who's. Philip. Says. Oh.
[41:35] You're. Reading. The. Book. Of. Prophet. Isaiah. Aren't. You. And. He. Says. Yes. I am. Actually. Which. Bit. Are. You. Reading. I'm. Reading. This. Led. Like. A. Land. To. The. Slaughter. Who. Is. The. Prophet. Speaking. About. Himself.
[41:46] Or. Someone. Else. And. Philip. Says. I. Can. Explain. That. To. You. Let. Me. In. Opens. The. Door. In. He. Goes. And. From. That. Passage. He. Gives. Him. The. Good. News. Of. Jesus.
[41:57] And. The. The. Ethiopian. Enoch. Actually. This is. Isn't it. He. He. He. Gets. To. The. Point. Of. Saying. You. Know. This. Is. Great. I. Can. See.
[42:07] This. I. Believe. This. What's. To. Stop. Me. Being. Baptized. And. As. The. Mercedes. Goes. Along. There. Some. Water. Over. There. And. Baptizes.
[42:18] Him. This. Is. The. Key. Passage. To. Realize. That. Jesus. Is. The. Servant. Spoken. Of. Here. And.
[42:28] As. The. Ethiopian. Eunuch. So. We. Should. Confess. Our. Sins. And. Repent. The. Passage. Is. Going. To. Go. On. To. Say. So. Seek. The.
[42:38] Lord. While. He. May. Be. Found. Forsake. Your. Wicked. Wicked. Ways. That's. What. It's. Going. To. Say. In. Chapter. 55. That's. What. You. Should. Do. Maybe. You've. Come. Along. This. Morning.
[42:50] And. All. These. Things. Are. A. Reminder. Of. Jesus. And. In. Your. Life. And. Conscience. You.
[43:01] Know. The. Burden. Of. Sin. And. Here. Is. The. Chance. The. Opportunity. To. Turn. And. To.
[43:11] Say. Yeah. I. I. I. Done. Wrong. I. Don't. Want. That. I. Want. You. I. Don't. Want. To. Live. That. Way. I.
[43:21] Want. To. Live. Your. Way. And. Here's. The. Opportunity. To. Confess. Sin. To. Seek. The. Lord. While. You. Have. The. Opportunity. That's. Today.
[43:31] That's. Now. To. Seek. The. Lord. While. He. May. Be. Found. And. To. Turn. From. Wicked. Ways. To. Believe. His. Promises. When.
[43:44] When. Isaiah. Applies. This. In. Chapter. 55. He's. Going. To. Say. Come. All. You. Who. Are. Thirsty. Come.
[43:54] To. The. Waters. Come. And. Buy. And. Eat. Buy. Wine. And. Milk. Why. Spend. Money. And. What. Is. Not. Bread. And. Your. Labor. And. What. Does.
[44:04] Not. Satisfy. Come. And. Eat. What. Is. Good. And. Your. Soul. Will. Delight. In. The. Richest. Affairs. Come. And. Eat. This. Up. Come. And. Take. It. Into. Yourself. That's. What. You. Do. By. Faith.
[44:15] You. Say. Yeah. That's. Me. All. Those. Promises. Yeah. I. Want. That. To. Be. Me. I. Trust. Your. Promises. Lord. Come. And. Believe. His. Promises. For.
[44:26] Yourself. And. Always. When you get. The end. Of. One. Of. These. Sections. There. Is. This. Jubilation. That. You. Can't.
[44:36] Stop. So. When. We. Get. To. The. End. Of. Fifty. Five. End. Of. Chapter. Fifty. Three. We. Get. Chapter. Fifty. Four. Which. Says. Sing. Oh. Barren. Woman. You.
[44:48] Who. Never. Bore. A Child. Burst. Into. Song. Shout. For. Joy. It's. Tremendous. It's. Amazing. It's. Fantastic. Look. What. God. Is. Going. To. Do. He. Says. Just. Be.
[44:58] Assured. Of. These. Promises. Be. Assured. Of. What. God. Is. Going. To. Do. Be. Assured. Of. What. The. Servant. Will. Achieve. Do. Not. Be. Afraid. You. Will. Not. Suffer. Suffer. Shame.
[45:08] Do. Not. Fear. Disgrace. He. For. A. Brief. Moment. I. Abandoned. You. But. With. Deep. Compassion. I. Will. Bring. You. Back. In. A. Surge. Of. Anger. I. Hid. My. Face. From. You. For. A. Moment.
[45:19] But. With. Ever. Lasting. Kindness. I. Will. Have. Compassion. On. You. Says. The. Lord. Your. Redeemer. Oh. Afflicted. City. Lashed. By. Storms. And. Not. Comfort. I. Will. Build. You. With. Stones. Of. Turquoise. And.
[45:29] Your. Foundations. With. Sapphires. I. Will. Make. Your. Battlements. Of. Rubies. And. Your. Gates. Of. Sparkling. Jewels. And. Your. Walls. Of. Precious. Stones. And. All. Your. Sons. Will. Be. Taught. By. The. Lord. And. Great. Will. Be. Your.
[45:39] Children's. Peace. Sing. It's. Fantastic. Let's. Let's. Sing. Something. Shall we. Let's. Sing. Four. Three. Three.