Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/ccbrighton/sermons/88364/the-obedient-servant/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] 49, listen to me you islands, before I was born the Lord called me, he made my mouth like a sharpened sword, he hid me in the shadow of his hand.

[0:13] And now we're looking at Isaiah 50, the sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Why should we find these servant songs so compelling? I should say there's another one which is the most famous of all, which says, He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.

[0:39] He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him. It's the most famous of all the servant songs, haven't got that far yet. Why should we find these songs so compelling? Well, first question, because it's in the Bible.

[0:54] And anything in the Bible, by definition, we ought to be interested in. All scripture is profitable for training, rebuke, correction, instruction in righteousness.

[1:06] We need the whole of the Bible, so that ought to be enough for us. Jesus said, man does not live by bread alone, by every word that comes from the mouth of God. So we shouldn't be content with just knowing bits of the Bible, our favourite bits, perhaps.

[1:20] We should know all of it. And you might think that's rather a big ask. As a start, if you count the number of pages in your Bible, well, you don't have to count them, it's probably got a number somewhere.

[1:36] So mine's got 1,139. If you divide that by 365 using a calculator, you'll find it turns out to be about 4 or 5 or something like that.

[1:49] 365 is the number of days in a year. That means if you were to read 4 or 5 pages, or whatever it is, you would actually read through the Bible in a year. And if you've never done so, that would be a good place to start, wouldn't it?

[2:03] So get to know every part of God's Word. But these particular things, these servant songs, why should we find them compelling? Well, here's a second reason.

[2:14] Because apparently, our Saviour Jesus Christ found these words to be particularly relevant to him. He took this and modelled himself on it, was instructed by it.

[2:30] He drank it in and presumably pondered it very deeply. So, for example, when he went to Jerusalem in Luke 9,15, it says, what did he do?

[2:43] What did he decide to do? He decided to set his face to go to Jerusalem. And that is exactly what the servant does in verse 7 of our chapter.

[2:55] He set his face like flint, it says. And I think the reason for that similarity in wording is because Jesus read this and said, I will live by this.

[3:10] I will need to set my face. And he set his face, as it were, like a flint, to go to Jerusalem to die. Here's a third answer.

[3:21] Because the Gospel writers believed that these words were about Jesus. So they quote, Matthew chapter 12, verse 18, quotes extensively the bit about a bruised reed he will not break, a smoking flax he will not snuff out.

[3:41] And he says, when Jesus came, walking in the streets of those cities, talking to those people, dealing gently with all sorts of people, that was to fulfil these servant songs.

[3:57] And in many other places as well. And not only was it Jesus and the Gospel writers, but God himself fulfilled these words in Jesus.

[4:14] It's God who himself quotes the Scripture when he says, at the baptism of Jesus, this is my beloved Son. Or on the Mount of Transfiguration, this is my beloved Son, listen to him.

[4:29] God is quoting Scripture there. And, for example, in Matthew's Gospel, where it says, they mocked him and spat at him.

[4:41] Well, that wording mirrors exactly what is in this servant song. I didn't hide my face from mocking and spitting. And there's one other reason, which is a little bit more difficult to get our heads round, that the apostles believed that if it was about Jesus, it's also about us, if we belong to Jesus.

[5:10] That's a little bit more difficult to get our heads round, but here's an example. In Isaiah 50, we have this question, it is the Sovereign Lord who helps me, who is he who will condemn me?

[5:27] And Paul picks up that rhythm of question and answer in Romans 8, where it says, the Lord, now I've forgotten it now, we only read it a moment ago, didn't we?

[5:43] The Lord, who will bring any charge against those who God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is it that condemns? And he's picking up the same thought which is used of the servant and saying, those words belong to us if we belong to the servant.

[6:04] We can say, where's my accuser? God justifies me. Who condemns me? And there's a very deep, there's a very profound way in which these scriptures about the servant also belong to the servant's servants, if you see what I mean.

[6:31] We'll think about that in a moment. Actually, we're going to think about it now because this morning I thought we need another slide on this, so I popped this in after breakfast this morning. Here's the question that the text has been raising.

[6:44] Is this about one person or is it about the nation? You will remember in Isaiah 49.3, it says, you are my servant, Israel.

[6:58] in whom I will display my splendor. Now, Israel is the name of, Israel is the name of Jacob. So he was a single person, one person, but Israel is also the name of the nation.

[7:14] Yeah, the nation. So, it's, is he saying, you are my servant, Israel, a single person or you are my servant, Israel, a whole nation, a collection of people?

[7:26] Is it the single or the collection? Whoops, click. Single figure or a group? And, the text, if we were to read it in more length, which we're not doing this morning, seems to go between these two thoughts.

[7:44] the text, seems to have these two ideas. And, I'd like to suggest that the way of thinking about that is that the, the one person and the nation sort of are all linked together.

[8:01] And, the New Testament certainly takes this idea up that Christ and his people are somehow inseparable.

[8:15] And, you'll notice the, the number of times in the New Testament we're spoken of as being in Christ. God has blessed us in Christ with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

[8:27] In him we have forgiveness of sins. In him, in him. And, I think that this thought of the single person and the people that belong to him is bubbling under the surface of these servant songs.

[8:47] There is a mysterious unequal sharing between the servant and his people. I put the word sharings there.

[8:59] I hated myself for doing so. It's like learnings. Learnings. Learnings are lessons. But, I couldn't think of a better way of putting it. Ways of sharing.

[9:11] The servant shares with his people in various ways. They're not equal ways. And, the nearest equivalent that we have in human experience is marriage.

[9:24] Have you noticed the amazing way that as a husband and wife get to know one another they work as one they share but you notice it's an unequal sharing.

[9:38] Have you noticed this? There are some things that the wife will do but the husband doesn't do. There's something that the husband does and the wife doesn't do and they work together in sharing things.

[9:50] So, for example, in our house we don't equally take out the rubbish. I forget to do it and Maria takes it. It's a secret's out now.

[10:03] So, in some cases the servant does what his people cannot do. So, the servant restores Israel. We saw that the other day. He's the one who rescues his people.

[10:15] They don't do that for him. They don't share that equally with him. He saves them. But his mission to be a light to the Gentiles becomes their mission.

[10:25] They do share that. Remember, you might not remember this but the Apostle Paul in Acts quotes this. A light to lighten the Gentiles which is a quote from the servant songs.

[10:37] And this is the servant's task but he shares that with his people. His mission becomes their mission. And as we can see the things that he does are a model for what we are to do.

[10:52] We are to imitate him in certain ways. Some ways we can't imitate him in other ways we can. And his vindication becomes their vindication.

[11:03] We will see that I hope as we go on. Vindication we will come back to that word. But he is vindicated it is there in 50 verse 8. And his vindication becomes their vindication.

[11:18] And then there is another thing in Isaiah 53. He is punished for their sins. So that's an unequal sharing.

[11:28] They don't share it 50-50. Their sins are plonked onto him and he bears the penalty for their sins. And we've got this world of wonderful unequal mysterious profound sharing in union between Christ and his people.

[11:47] people. So let's go back on track. What's the context? We did this last week. But just in case you would like a reminder. Geographically we're in the Middle East, the territory least to the nation of Israel.

[12:02] Historically we're about 700 years BC. Before that we had Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And they were their names in case you couldn't remember. Jacob who was also Israel.

[12:13] Israel and the 12 there being the 12 tribes of Israel. And as they go on through history one man becomes a nation. And Israel's role is to show God's goodness to the nations which he fails to do.

[12:29] And her failure is a failure, a particular sort of failure, a particular sort of sin. It's a sin against knowledge. Paul makes quite a bit of that in Romans 9 to 11 later on. At the time of the writing of Isaiah's prophecy he's looking forward and can see where this is all heading.

[12:47] The certainty of exile and also the promise of a homecoming. So he's situated where that blue arrow is. That's when he's writing and he's looking forward in the end to the cross.

[13:00] So let's look at the text. Verse 4 beginning of the servant song. Number 3 notice the sovereign lord is repeated several times.

[13:12] It means Yahweh who is the master. The sovereign lord says the servant has given me an instructed tongue.

[13:27] What it literally says is the tongue of a disciple. To know the word that sustains the weary. So he says, this is, no, let me read the rest of it.

[13:42] He wakens me morning by morning. He wakens my ear to listen like a disciple. The sovereign lord has opened my ears and I have not been rebellious.

[14:01] It's an interesting and rather beautiful thing, I think, for the servant to be saying. he's saying, who is he? What is being described? It's the servant as a disciple.

[14:14] The servant as a disciple, the servant as a learner. What position am I in? Says the servant. Well, I'm in this position of being given the ability to speak and I speak as a disciple.

[14:31] I speak as someone who has listened and learned and I've listened and learned so much, so well, that I in turn can speak a word to sustain the weary.

[14:52] That's quite a lot of learning, isn't it? if you think, what words are most, what should I say, most, not demanding, but require the most to say, well, instruction is not that difficult and exhortation is not that difficult, but to be able to get inside somebody's heart and mind who is weary and to be able to say something that will give hope and perk them up, that really does show a huge degree of understanding and the servant says, the sovereign Lord has given me the tongue of a disciple to know the word that sustains the weary.

[15:39] And there's the weary. You'll find the weary in, I think it's Isaiah 55, isn't it, there? Even the young men shall grow weary, but those who trust in the Lord shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall walk and not faint, they shall run and not be weary.

[15:57] And there's the weary person and in the context, probably what they're doing is trying to get home. They're on their way home and the sun's beating down on them and it might be hot and a long journey and they're weary and the servant knows exactly what to say to sustain the weary.

[16:21] So you have the word that the servant listens to from the Lord and then the word that the servant can give to the weary. And we notice that he says, notice the character of this listening, the Lord wakes me up every morning and every morning I listen to him.

[16:41] I think that's a wonderful description of discipleship, isn't it? Every day I listen, I learn, I orientate my day, I refresh my thinking from the word of the sovereign Lord.

[17:04] And it also tells us that because the servant did this repetitively, repeatedly, presumably he didn't learn everything all at once.

[17:16] Presumably there was a process of learning he had to go through. And this is certainly true of Jesus, isn't it? He grew in wisdom and stature.

[17:27] As we could imagine the Lord Jesus as a little child being taught, well he wouldn't have been taught the catechism, of course that catechism hadn't been invented, but being taught the scriptures, being taught how to pray.

[17:40] And then as he gets older he learns more. And he begins to see things more, he begins to learn things more, he learns things about himself, about how to live, about life, about the neighbours across the street, and why they argue, and all these sorts of things.

[17:57] He learns and learns, he learns remarkably, doesn't he? When he was a young boy he's there in the temple courts, you remember, discussing with the professors of theology, and they're very impressed with the profundity of his understanding, but he learned, he grew.

[18:16] And I suppose this says that if we're to be disciples, well we go through a process too. We start off as little babies in understanding, and we grow, and we grow, if of course we go through this process of listening.

[18:30] a beautiful picture of Jesus, and one in which we are to take him as our model.

[18:42] If he learned and grew this way, then that's a good model for us to follow, and a good model for us to pass on to baby Christians, and indeed, in a sense, our children.

[18:58] Let's see what happens next. The sovereign Lord has opened my ears. I have not been rebellious.

[19:08] Let's just stop on that word, rebellious. I, said the servant, have not been rebellious. That's not such a common thing for people to say.

[19:28] If you look in the Bible, look for a list of all the people who could honestly say, I've not been rebellious, who could honestly say that, I think you come to a list of one.

[19:47] Because Adam was rebellious, wasn't he? Our first father, Adam. He was told what to do and what not to do by God.

[19:57] He got enormous freedom, just one thing you don't do, and Adam rebelled. And Israel was rebellious.

[20:09] And God pleads with Israel, a very famous plea from the Lord to Israel. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.

[20:20] Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.

[20:31] But if you resist and rebel, you'll be devoured by the sword. If you turn in rebellion, saying to God, I'm not going to do that, then you'll be devoured by the sword.

[20:44] Israel was rebellious, but the servant says, I'm not rebellious. Of course, we like sheep have gone astray.

[20:55] We have turned everyone to his own way. That's our problem as human beings, that we're rebellious. That's what sin is.

[21:08] It's a form of rebellion. I wouldn't like you to think that Christianity says we're victims. something happens to us and we're so sad and broken and God just sort of does medical work on us and heals us.

[21:28] I mean, that's part of it, but that's not the depth of it. We're rebels. We've spat at God. We've shaken our fists at God. We've insulted God.

[21:43] We're rebels. We need to repent. We need to ask forgiveness for our obnoxious behavior. But the servant says, I am not rebellious.

[21:59] And if you were to look into the Gospels, particularly John's Gospel, it keeps on saying that this is exactly the way the servant lives and conducts himself and thinks about himself and thinks about life and thinks about his relationship with God, total submission of the son to the father was Jesus' way of life.

[22:24] Whatever the father says, I will do, and the son delights to do the father's will. I, says the servant, have not been rebellious.

[22:38] Unless we should think that that's a fairly easy thing, just look at what it led him into. And in a sense, the text here doesn't explain why it should lead him this way, but this is where it does lead him.

[22:53] I have not been rebellious, verse 5, I have not drawn back, I offered my back to the, those who beat me, to the smiters, and my cheeks, to those who pulled out my beard.

[23:12] I know guys who have got beards just looking around. Landlord of the Joker has got one of these massive beards like this.

[23:24] Would you fancy having your beard plucked out? I would imagine that's an extremely painful, unpleasant thing. I offered my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard.

[23:36] I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

[23:49] It's a very costly path, because the Sovereign Lord says, that's the way for you. Those people want to whip you on the back, those people want to spit in your face, those people want to pluck out your beard, that's the way to go.

[24:08] And the servant says, as you know, in Gethsemane, he says, are we quite sure? Have I got to do this? I don't really like the idea of this.

[24:20] And the father says, it is my will for you to do that. And the servant says, yes, I will. It's costly obedience, a costly path to follow.

[24:31] Jesus says that we should follow him in this. We might pause to ask, what made him do it? Why did he offer his back to those who beat him?

[24:45] Why did he offer his cheeks to those who pulled out his beard? And the answer in this text is because it was a matter of obedience and respect to his father.

[24:57] the sovereign lord says this is the way you are to go. And rather than the servant saying, well, I don't know why, I don't see why this doesn't make any sense to me, he just does it.

[25:15] I don't know whether sometimes in our lives the path is there and we say, I don't know, this makes no sense to me, what am I going to get out of this?

[25:27] How does this help me? And the father says, no, that's what I want you to do. And we might rebel at that point, but the servant obeys out of respect for his father.

[25:45] We know there's another motive, because he loved us. I don't know a huge number of people who would go through this for me.

[26:00] I mean, for a good man someone might dare to die, yes. But God demonstrates his love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ did all this for us.

[26:16] Let's go on in the text. God so he is facing for some reason, which is not clear in this text, but is clear elsewhere, this adverse opposition.

[26:33] And now he says, verse 7, but I know how this will turn out. He says, because the sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced.

[26:50] Therefore I have set my face like flint. I know I will not be put to shame. So you've got those two words there of shame and disgrace.

[27:02] Alec Mateer in his commentary had a wonderful description of these, which I entirely fail to remember or write down. But it was something like this. when you look forward to something and you are in the position where that is denied you, where you are trusting in something and it ends up that you were mistaken in your trust and you end up being disappointed.

[27:25] Or you are confident about something and it ends up that your confidence was completely misplaced and you look like an idiot. Shame, what was my other word?

[27:39] being confounded, being disgraced, looking like a complete idiot. And in a way the servant is treated as if he was a shameful object.

[27:56] But he says, I know I will not be put to shame. I know in the end I will not be left in disgrace.

[28:09] Yeah, there were two words in the text, disgraced, put to shame. And therefore he says, I don't waver, even though it feels, I presume I'm putting words into his mouth, but the feeling of this is that it's awful, a miscarriage of justice, why should I put up with this?

[28:29] He says, I set my face like a flint, I'm going to do this. It's an interesting insight into the psychology of the servant, isn't it? Because he's steadfastly pressing on with a very unpleasant path.

[28:49] I think modern day Christianity tends to find that a bit difficult because we put so much emphasis on feeling good about things and delighting in things, I think we probably overuse that well.

[29:01] we might be tempted to overuse that handle on the Christian life, but here is the servant who's going through something extremely unpleasant and he says what he has to hold him up in this is that he sets his face like a flint, I will do this, even if it kills me.

[29:23] And I think the words for that would be determination and courage. Probably time we put those words back into the vocabulary of the Christian life, to do things out of determination and courage.

[29:39] Courage is a Christian virtue. Anyway, I will not be disgraced, I will not be put to shame. Why so?

[29:53] Please notice the word help, verse 7, the sovereign Lord helps me. Now, what does the word help meaning? It's there in verse 9 as well. So help might mean help you with carrying your shopping, help might mean opening a door for you if you're carrying a heavy load, help, oh I don't know what help might mean, it might mean unloading the dishwasher, very helpful, not knocking any of those things.

[30:19] But the word help here has a far stronger idea behind it. This is not just helping the servant carrying the shopping in. This is a robust, powerful intervention by the Lord on behalf of the servant.

[30:39] Look what it says. He who vindicates me is near. So let's look at that word vindicate.

[30:52] Anybody got a different translation for vindicate? Okay. Anybody got an authorised version?

[31:07] A Swiss German version does not count for the purposes of this exercise. Well the word, let me explain this word to you, it's a word to do with being righteous and English struggles to to find one word to pin on this idea.

[31:29] If you were to turn please to Deuteronomy 25 verse 1, you'll find this word and its opposite and it is in the context of legal proceedings.

[31:44] things. So I can reminisce that a driver bumped into Maria, a driver did bump into Maria and claimed that she had bumped into him and took it to court.

[32:01] It wasn't a big court but it was an official court hearing and we waited for months on tenterhooks for this and all the evidence was gone through until at the end, he wasn't actually a judge but he was something or other.

[32:14] He said, well, here is my verdict. It was not Mrs. Wells who bumped into you but you who bumped into Mrs. Wells. Here's the reason for it and Mrs. Wells leaves this court without a stain on her name and particularly on her driving license and etc.

[32:30] So they came to a conclusion like that. I have to say it was such a relief. We thought money's no object. We'll go and buy a cup of coffee and that's what we did. Deuteronomy 25 verse 1.

[32:43] When men have a dispute, they take it to the court and the judge will decide the case acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. Acquitting the innocent.

[32:56] So the innocent person is acquitted. So that's the word in English there. Justify would be another English word that some of the Bible use.

[33:07] If you wanted to make up a word, you could say righteousness if I meaning to declare righteous. And the opposite is to condemn, to declare guilty.

[33:20] And that's the function of a court. It takes the evidence and the people and comes up saying you are acquitted, you are justified, you are righteous, acquitted, and will be treated as such.

[33:45] You'll leave the court without a stain on your name, and you are condemned, and you have to pay costs, and if you don't do it, you'll go to prison, and you'll be treated as guilty.

[33:57] So that's justification and condemnation. And the servant says, verse 8, the one who justifies me is near.

[34:11] In other words, the judge who at some point will say, servant, you are condemned, you ought to be treated as condemned, or who will say, servant, you are justified, and ought to be treated as justified.

[34:25] Now you see, what happened is, that so far the servant has been treated as a condemned person, hasn't he? The servant has been hit, spat at, mocked, as if he were a condemned criminal.

[34:43] Disgraced, shameful, and the servant says, but the one who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me?

[35:00] let us face each other. Who is my accuser? Let him confront me. It is the sovereign Lord who helps me. Who is he who will condemn me?

[35:13] Do you get the force of that? He's saying, the Lord God, the great judge, is on my side. He doesn't find me guilty. He finds me innocent.

[35:24] He says, no stain on your name. Treated as there's no stain on your name. Honored, he who vindicates me is near.

[35:34] Who's going to disagree with the Lord on this? So I have my accusers, my troublers, the one who, the accuser, very funny word for that, and I didn't quite understand the translation of it, it seems to be somebody who tries to make law condemn me.

[36:05] Accuser. And the servant says, nobody's going to get away with that because I haven't done anything wrong. The Lord will vindicate me to declare innocent and treat me as such.

[36:22] I put a reference to Isaiah 43, 26. I can't remember why. Let's look and see if I can find out. Yeah, this is to do with Israel.

[36:34] Review the past for me. Let us argue the matter together. State the case for your innocence. State the case for you to be justified. And of course, Israel would have a very weak case because they had rebelled.

[36:48] But the servant has got a very strong case and he's justified. And the Lord helps him in this specific way. Who will condemn?

[36:59] them. Now, you get that. Do you not about the servant? You think, yes, absolutely, I can see that point.

[37:13] But here's the amazing thing, that the apostle Paul says, well, if you belong to the servant, then when he was vindicated, you're so much tied to him that you're vindicated too.

[37:35] We so much belong to the servant that when Christ died on the cross and the father vindicated him and raised him from the dead and said, you don't deserve to be condemned like a criminal, you deserve to be vindicated, to be justified, to be lifted high, to be honoured.

[37:53] Jesus Christ had sort of reached out his hand and grabbed hold of us too. And when he was lifted and vindicated, he brought us along with him.

[38:05] We didn't deserve it, but he brought us along with him. And so the apostle Paul can say in Romans 8, and when Christians are accused, God justifies.

[38:16] Who is it that condemns? Where's the accuser? Let us face one another. The sovereign Lord helps us. who will condemn? And that's just an amazing thing for a Christian, isn't it?

[38:29] To be able to say, in the courtroom of God, the accuser's claim is swept away by the brilliance, the obedience of the servant.

[38:47] And when we go to court, as it were, the servant stands up there for us and says, when the fingers pointed at us, the servant says, hold on, I died for these people, they're my people, when I was vindicated, they were vindicated too.

[39:03] And we might say, hallelujah, what a savior. Let's go now to the fate of his accusers. Who will condemn me?

[39:17] Verse 9. what will happen to these people? They will all wear out like a garment.

[39:29] The moths will eat them up. What happens to the accusers? They will all fail like a garment.

[39:39] I suspect we probably don't understand this text because when we have finished with a garment, we probably take it to the charity shop, or take it back to the charity shop, because it was, it's still perfectly wearable.

[39:56] The idea of clothes becoming unwearable is something that we're not terribly familiar with. But could you imagine something that has become so awful that it's unwearable? Think of a floor cloth and think of how worn out it gets and how horrible it gets.

[40:12] And if clothes got like that, what will happen to the accusers? They will all fail like a garment. It says moths will eat them up. And again, we think moths, they're such lovely creatures, full of, well, they're not particularly colourful, and I don't particularly, to be honest, have a soft spot for moths.

[40:31] But my colleague, when I used to teach, she really loved moths, she was really an expert on moths. So we think this is a rather benign little text here.

[40:43] They will wear out like a garment, well, they go to the charity shop, be used again, eaten up by moths, well, moths aren't a big problem. I think it's actually a rather frightening text. There's a moth.

[40:56] Let's imagine a clothing that, you know, let's put it in the ground and let it rot, or something like that, so that it becomes just what it used to be, but corrupted with holes in it, all eaten away, but it's still there.

[41:15] And I think it's a rather frightening text. The accusers become like a shredded old garment with holes in it, eaten by moths.

[41:27] And if you're still not convinced that that's a frightening text, think of worms. Worms are benign creatures, aren't they? When you're at primary school, or if you're a primary school teacher, do you not give lessons about worms?

[41:46] Did you make a wormery? No. I'm sure we did. Nobody ever done that? Yes, worms and that. Thank you.

[41:57] Thank you. No. Education's sadly lacking here. But we used to do stuff. Oh, they're lovely little. No?

[42:09] Okay. Well, okay. I'm going to go with you now and say, actually, Isaiah uses the idea of the worm as being the creature that devours dead bodies and says that the worm does not die.

[42:25] There's a worm. And I think this is equally as dark a picture. What happens to the accuser? They're like, they get eaten up like a very, very old garment.

[42:41] Moths eat them like the worm that does not die. I think it's a horrible, horrible end. one of these things in the Bible that hardly bears thinking about.

[42:56] The servant is so crucial in the plan of God for the human race that to follow him is life and to reject him is to embrace the most complete and awful and comprehensive destruction.

[43:13] I think it's a frightening description. And the servant is saying it doesn't happen straight away but that's where it's headed.

[43:25] It's a very sober thought. Verse 10. Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? So this is a question, who?

[43:36] There's actually been several questions. Who? Who will bring charges? Who is my accuser? Who will condemn me? Here's another question. Who fears the Lord? So I'm going to finish with this question and ask you this question.

[43:48] Who fears the Lord? Who here fears the Lord? Who fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? It's interesting that, isn't it?

[43:59] Because the servant made it his habit to sit and listen day by day to the sovereign Lord. And now in his turn, the servant offers instruction and the question is who listens to the word of the servant?

[44:20] Who listens to the word of the servant? Who hears the word of the servant? And to fear the Lord and to listen to the voice of the servant are put in partnership.

[44:32] You say, well I fear the Lord, I'm not a Christian though. Well hold on. How can you fear the Lord if you don't listen to the word of the servant? He who does not honour the son does not honour the father who sent him.

[44:49] Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, what should they do? Trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

[45:04] So we've got the word trust, which we understand. Actually Isaiah has quite a lot about trusting. We sort of think that faith is a New Testament thing, but it's there in Isaiah.

[45:16] The essence of the spiritual life, to trust the name of the Lord and rely on his God. The reliance word is like what you do when you have a walking stick and you lean on it to support you.

[45:34] It's a trust, but it's also leaning and you can lean on all sorts of things metaphorically. Isaiah 31 has a rather fascinating text.

[45:48] Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots. So there's an example of trusting and leaning, so leaning, leaning on horses.

[46:01] If you think leaning on horses, you think that's a very odd idea, leaning on a horse. You see what he means? Trusting in the power that that technology could give.

[46:12] If that's where your life is based, you're not leaning on the Lord, but you should do. And here's the opposite, and this is rather frightening too.

[46:23] Verse 11, but now all you who light fires and provide yourself with flaming torches, there was darkness and no light, and the light was to trust in the Lord, and here people are saying there's no light, we'll make our own light, we'll kindle our own fire, we'll make our own torches or fire lights or whatever.

[46:51] He says, okay, you go and do that. Go and walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. And where does that get you? It's a really abrupt change of mood here, isn't it?

[47:08] This is what you'll have from my hand. There you are, lighting your own torches, finding your own way through life, saying this is what I feel is true and right and good, not interested in God telling me that, I'm lighting my own torch on this.

[47:25] He says, you will lie down in torment, torment.

[47:36] I think this is the one and only use of it in the Old Testament. It's linked with grievous pain. I think it's used in a connection with childbirth, the pains of childbirth.

[47:50] But he says, this is what you will have to lie down in torment. I'm taken by surprise by the severity of these texts at the end, because most of the things about the servant are so gentle and encouraging and inviting, but this is the opposite.

[48:13] If you won't have the gently flowing waters, as it were, then this is what you get. This is what you've chosen. This is what you've chosen for yourself, to lie down in grievous pain.

[48:26] So on that note, I finish, and the question was who? So of us here, who? Who fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant?

[48:44] Who trusts in God and relies on him? And the people who don't, who light their own fires, you can read what the Bible says.

[48:59]  Let's close with a song about trusting. 7, 6, 9. 7, 6, 9. 7, 6, 9. 7, 9. 7, 7, 7,