WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.860 So, let's start with the truth that we've been thinking about with the boys and girls on Sunday 00:00:05.860 --> 00:00:14.439 morning, that you and I as people made in God's image were made for joy. We were made to enjoy 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:20.920 God, to experience Him in the world that He has made, to experience Him in His Word in such a way 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:28.500 that our hearts will be filled with joy. More than that, in the Bible we're called to enjoy God. 00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:36.100 I remember Philippians, a great letter about joy, chapter 3, chapter 4, rejoice in the Lord always. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:44.380 I will say it again, rejoice. That God wants to draw our hearts, our minds, our attention to Jesus, 00:00:44.519 --> 00:00:50.320 that we would see Him in the gospel, that we would recognize His beauty and His glory, 00:00:50.420 --> 00:00:53.700 that we would delight in Him, that we'd be a praising, singing people. 00:00:53.700 --> 00:01:02.040 And further, if we're here today and we're Christians, we have been saved for this specific 00:01:02.040 --> 00:01:11.159 reason, saved to enjoy God. There's that instinct for a saved-by-grace people to sing grateful praise. 00:01:12.020 --> 00:01:18.900 We could go back to Exodus 15. Here is Israel on the banks of the Red Sea. God has just opened the sea, 00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:23.620 and they've walked through in safety. God's enemies, the people's enemies have been judged, 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:29.540 and the people, they sing a new song of salvation. Or we can think about the mindset of the apostles. 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:35.060 So after the resurrection of Jesus, after Jesus goes back to heaven, sends them the Spirit, 00:01:35.240 --> 00:01:41.520 sends them into the world, we see time and time again, they have this unstoppable joy. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:48.340 They can't and they won't stop talking about Jesus and all that He has done, regardless of what 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:54.579 persecution or opposition might come. And it's the song of Isaiah 12, which is actually, as we'll see, 00:01:54.699 --> 00:02:02.739 it's the song of God's church. Here are God's people praising Him for saving grace. 00:02:02.739 --> 00:02:11.859 There's a time stamp in our text. It's here twice, verse 1 and verse 4. In that day, you will say. 00:02:12.740 --> 00:02:17.500 In the first, well, from chapter 7 to chapter 12 of the book of Isaiah, in that day becomes a really 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:24.639 prominent theme. In the past, it was a day that signaled, here is God's people under judgment. 00:02:25.659 --> 00:02:31.519 Here they are sent into exile, living in slavery, in sort of darkness and gloom. But now, 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:40.900 in that day, in a salvation day, the light of God's joy has dawned. Slavery has been ended and true 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:47.560 freedom has come. In that day, we're told earlier in Isaiah that the remnant God saved by grace people 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:54.760 will be drawn out from exile and taken home to be with God. In that day, that day of salvation, 00:02:55.560 --> 00:03:01.379 God's promised King will come. The King who is Emmanuel, God with us. The King who comes to 00:03:01.379 --> 00:03:06.759 establish the kingdom of peace. The King in the family line of David, whose throne endures forever. 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:12.939 The one who's going to lead his followers back to God. In that day, there's a day of salvation and 00:03:12.939 --> 00:03:20.180 there's a day of joy. And so, this song that we're coming to in Isaiah 12 is a song that belongs to the 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:27.819 church. It belongs to the people who have been saved by God's promised Messiah, King Jesus. And 00:03:27.819 --> 00:03:36.359 central to this song, center of the chapter, is joy. Verse 3 is the center, with joy you will draw water 00:03:36.359 --> 00:03:43.379 from the wells of salvation. And the thrust of this chapter is this, that when a person experiences 00:03:43.379 --> 00:03:50.459 God's saving grace, or when a people, a community of God, when a church is satisfied by the goodness 00:03:50.460 --> 00:03:58.000 of Jesus and His salvation, there will be joy. And there will be praise. So, let's think about what 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:07.740 it looks like. First couple of verses, we have joyful testimony, personal testimony to God's grace. 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:15.580 I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:21.460 comforted me. If we were able to ask Isaiah, Isaiah, what's the most amazing thing about salvation? 00:04:22.080 --> 00:04:26.699 What is it that's captured your heart and your imagination right now? His answer would be this, 00:04:26.780 --> 00:04:37.560 that God is not against us, but He is for us. That God is a former enemy who is now for His people. 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:44.900 And remember what Isaiah has seen. Isaiah has seen, Isaiah chapter 6, he's seen God's awesome holiness. 00:04:44.899 --> 00:04:50.959 That vision in the temple. And he has become profoundly aware of his own personal sinfulness, 00:04:51.359 --> 00:05:03.639 the gap, the holiness gap between God and people. He has heard the grace of God inviting the King of 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:11.859 Israel and the people of Israel to trust and follow Him and Him alone. But he has seen and he has heard 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:18.879 the people of God turning away, putting their trust in alliances with other nations or turning to 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:26.740 worship other gods. And so, Isaiah knows this. Isaiah knows that God is right to be angry. Isaiah knows 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:35.600 that sin is real and that guilt is real. Isaiah knows that separation is reality and judgment is what 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:46.080 a sinful people deserves. But he also knows that God loves to show grace to undeserving sinners. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:53.939 It's striking and it's important that in these first couple of verses, we are hearing the voice of 00:05:53.939 --> 00:05:59.459 God's personal testimony. God is a personal testimony. I will praise you. You were angry with me, 00:05:59.459 --> 00:06:07.240 but now you have comforted me. The Lord Himself is my salvation, my strength, and my defense. 00:06:08.139 --> 00:06:19.319 This is where joy begins. Joy begins here, as we can say that the Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me. 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:27.019 Not, I've read that in the Bible, or I know that this is a general true principle, but we know it 00:06:27.019 --> 00:06:36.879 deep down felt experience. That God loved me, sent His Son to die for me. There's two ways in particular 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:43.779 that God's grace leads to personal joy as Isaiah brings it to us here. The first is to do with 00:06:43.779 --> 00:06:49.300 reconciliation. So, we read that although you were angry, your anger has turned and you have comforted 00:06:49.300 --> 00:06:56.100 me. So, the picture here, we can think about a battle scene. Here is war between two opponents 00:06:56.100 --> 00:07:04.900 that has turned to peace. Here is the end to anger. Here is the end to hostility. Here is the just and 00:07:04.900 --> 00:07:12.259 holy God who is now turning towards people to show mercy. And this brings one of the tension points in 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:18.460 the Old Testament. So, we're presented with these two truths, that God is just and God is holy. God cannot 00:07:18.459 --> 00:07:23.739 overlook sin, cannot sweep sin under the rug, or it would deface His righteousness and His holiness. 00:07:24.060 --> 00:07:31.180 But God is also merciful and loves to forgive. And so, the tension is, how is that possible? 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:37.019 And that tension continues, and we feel it all through the Old Testament, and it leads us all the way 00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:43.259 to resolution in the New Testament. Perhaps one place we can turn to hear it really clearly, 00:07:43.259 --> 00:07:49.579 how this tension is resolved, is in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 11 to 21 of 2 Corinthians 5 is 00:07:49.579 --> 00:07:55.980 all about the ministry of reconciliation. But here, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 18, for example, 00:07:55.980 --> 00:08:04.620 all this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of 00:08:04.620 --> 00:08:09.899 reconciliation. Note who takes the initiative. God takes the initiative to reconcile a people to 00:08:09.899 --> 00:08:17.979 Himself. Verse 19, God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against 00:08:17.979 --> 00:08:23.819 them. This is a deliberate act and a choice of God to not count our sins against us, but rather 00:08:23.819 --> 00:08:35.659 to extend mercy. Verse 21, God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:42.059 the righteousness of God. How can God be just and merciful? Because He sent His Son to take our place, 00:08:42.059 --> 00:08:49.339 to die under the just judgment of God there on the cross, to pay the price in full satisfying justice. 00:08:49.339 --> 00:08:53.819 But Jesus also comes to die on the cross to show us how loving and how merciful He is 00:08:54.539 --> 00:09:01.179 in being the substitute that we need. So, the anger that's spoken of in Isaiah 12, 00:09:01.179 --> 00:09:06.139 it doesn't fall on us, though that's what should happen. It falls on Jesus, the substitute. 00:09:08.219 --> 00:09:14.539 God's anger is turned away, it's diverted because it doesn't fall on us, it instead falls on Jesus, 00:09:14.539 --> 00:09:23.500 the perfect sacrifice. Justice is satisfied by Jesus, the sin-bearer, so we can live at peace with God, 00:09:23.500 --> 00:09:33.179 and God can be reconciled to us. God is no longer hostile. The barrier of sin is broken down. Slavery 00:09:33.179 --> 00:09:40.379 and separation has been ended, so we can live with freedom, we can live at home with our God and see 00:09:40.860 --> 00:09:47.019 how that leads to joy. Your anger is turned away, now there's a new experience, you have comforted me. 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:55.579 Now, we know this from our children, we know this as we are children, when we hurt ourselves instinctively, 00:09:55.579 --> 00:10:02.299 when we need comfort, we feel sad, we feel anxious, the person we look for most often is going to be 00:10:02.299 --> 00:10:09.019 our mom or dad, a parent. We know they love us and we can trust them. And the Gospel says this is true 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:16.379 of God our Father, that He is our source of comfort. Of course, the New Testament will take that even further. 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:20.939 Jesus will say, I'm going to send another comforter, the Holy Spirit, to come and live in us. 00:10:22.460 --> 00:10:28.379 And so, the Holy Spirit works in us and gives us that comfort and gives us that assurance, so we can 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:37.179 stand before God and know that we're accepted, know that we come to a throne of grace. We can stand before 00:10:37.179 --> 00:10:45.820 the devil, our accuser, and when he tries to contend us, we know that we are forgiven, because Jesus was 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:52.540 condemned in our place. And we can stand before the world, as hostile as it might be, and say joyfully, 00:10:52.540 --> 00:10:59.020 I belong to Jesus. We have comfort. So, there's reconciliation. But the other source of personal 00:10:59.020 --> 00:11:04.460 joy here in these opening verses is that we have in God a source of refuge. Verse 2, 00:11:04.460 --> 00:11:13.900 Surely God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord Himself is my strength 00:11:13.900 --> 00:11:19.180 and my defense. He has become my salvation. Here's a different picture of this changed relationship, 00:11:19.180 --> 00:11:26.060 that because of grace, God is no longer against us, but positively, He is on our side. Positively, 00:11:26.060 --> 00:11:33.019 He invites us to run to Him and to find refuge. And one of the ways that God's grace works in our hearts 00:11:33.019 --> 00:11:39.579 is He gives to us this strong certainty. Did you hear the certain words? Surely God is my salvation. 00:11:39.579 --> 00:11:47.819 The Lord, the Lord Himself is my strength and my defense. God's grace gives us that knowledge 00:11:47.819 --> 00:11:57.059 that the personal, powerful God has committed Himself to us, and God and His Word will not and cannot fail. 00:11:58.319 --> 00:12:02.860 And so, these first couple of verses give us really powerful reasons as the people of God 00:12:02.860 --> 00:12:09.259 for joyful praise. God has been reconciled to us, and God is a refuge to us. 00:12:10.539 --> 00:12:17.980 And so, there's this personal praise that comes. And just before we move on from this, just to think 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:25.340 by way of application, to recognize and to remember the power of personal testimony. 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:30.659 So, we're beginning Christianity Explored, and part of the preparation for Christianity Explored, 00:12:30.659 --> 00:12:36.259 for people involved in leading, is to take some time to think about how do we tell our story, 00:12:37.219 --> 00:12:46.819 the story of what Jesus has done for me, the reality of what Jesus means to me, both past, present, and future. 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:55.620 What is it about the truth of God's Word, the truth about Jesus, that has transformed our hearts and our lives? 00:12:55.620 --> 00:13:05.940 There's a real power when we can communicate our personal stories in such a way that Jesus is glorified, 00:13:06.179 --> 00:13:12.659 that the gospel is highlighted. Think about, we read Mark 5, David read for us in Mark 5, 00:13:12.820 --> 00:13:17.919 that legion, you know, Jesus has delivered him from those demons, and he wants to go with Jesus. 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:23.360 Remember what Jesus says? Well, stay in your town. Tell them what the Lord has done for you. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:28.639 Tell them that the Lord has shown mercy to you, and he spends the rest of his days traveling these 10 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:34.000 cities with this powerful testimony to saving grace discovered in Jesus. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:41.419 Recently, some of you might have noticed this, the founder of Wikipedia, if you've ever written an 00:13:41.419 --> 00:13:47.379 essay, I hope we haven't used Wikipedia, but the founder of Wikipedia, who was a big buff and a big 00:13:47.379 --> 00:13:51.840 philosopher, he's recently become a Christian. It's really interesting, you can read like a really long 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:56.720 account from him of that conversion. But what struck me, one of the things that struck me, 00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:02.620 was that part of what drew him, so he'd sort of been going to church as a kid, but kind of gave it 00:14:02.620 --> 00:14:10.580 all up for philosophy, but part of what drew him back was some online encounters, and maybe we 00:14:10.580 --> 00:14:15.280 recognize this. He said, well, while the sort of new atheists in particular, but atheists in general, 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:22.100 were very kind of hostile and very negative, not showing any grace or tolerance at all of other 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:26.059 viewpoints, he said, the Christians that I met online when I was asking honest questions 00:14:26.059 --> 00:14:33.600 were far more gracious and far more kind and far more thoughtful. And the more that he began to be 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:39.139 drawn back towards Christianity, he began to realize, I have a lot of friends and family who I deeply 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:46.340 respect and admire, and they're Christians. And so, the power of personal testimony remains 00:14:46.340 --> 00:14:55.259 important for us as we look to communicate our faith. Another thing to remember is to remember 00:14:55.259 --> 00:15:04.779 the power of God for us. God, by His grace, would want to give us the strong certainty that God is for us. 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:11.259 Maybe there's nowhere better we can turn than to Romans chapter 8. Let me read just a few of these 00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:22.620 verses. Romans 8, 31. What shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:30.240 us? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:36.680 the one who condemns? No one. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? No one, nobody, nothing. 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:48.240 So, when we find ourselves in a moment of crisis, where do we look? In whom do we trust? 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:58.320 There is an invitation that comes from God Himself to know for sure, the Lord is my salvation, my strength, 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:06.580 my defense. And as we come to discover His saving grace, His sustaining daily grace is enough, then we 00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:17.520 can joyfully sing. We are weak, but He is strong. We can joyfully experience what Isaiah writes of here, 00:16:17.580 --> 00:16:24.500 that sense of belonging to our Lord. It's why it's so important for us to be hearing the Word of God, 00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:30.799 to be receiving, to be trusting His promises, that we would both believe and live in the gospel. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:37.080 So, we've got the joyful testimony, personal testimony of God's grace. Let's now think about 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:43.759 this middle section, verse 3, and this joyful, a shared experience, a joyful experience of God's 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:49.919 grace. Just for a moment, let me take you to my grandpa's croft in Skye. My grandpa's croft was a 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:57.819 wonderful place as a kid growing up. It had an old abandoned Massey Ferguson tractor that you could 00:16:57.819 --> 00:17:04.700 ride on anytime you wanted. It had a big old classic car. I don't know how long it had been there. My 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:10.240 grandpa never drove, so it was vintage. It was a house that had an outside toilet. That was novel. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:19.319 And at the bottom of the croft, it still had a little old well. So, it was kind of novelty as a 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:24.839 kid to go down to the well and to find some cool, refreshing water. But of course, in its day, 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:34.059 that well was life-giving before taps came. You needed the well for life. Think about a desert traveler, 00:17:34.059 --> 00:17:41.819 and the need to find refreshing water becomes all the more pronounced. And think about these travelers, 00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:46.700 or think about the travelers in the book of Exodus, you know, the people that had been former slaves in 00:17:46.700 --> 00:17:50.659 Egypt, and they're going towards the promised land, but in between, they're going to have to walk 00:17:50.659 --> 00:17:56.659 through the wilderness. Or the exiles who are going to be brought home from Babylon again. There's desert, 00:17:56.660 --> 00:18:04.840 there's wilderness. So, on their way home to God, they need wells of water, sources of life, sources of 00:18:04.840 --> 00:18:16.340 refreshing, strength for the journey. It becomes a gospel picture. Jesus in John 7, I will pronounce 00:18:16.340 --> 00:18:22.560 at a feast, let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. And whoever believes in me, rivers of living 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:29.799 water will flow from within them. Speaking about the gift of the Spirit, an endless supply of God's presence 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:37.919 and God's grace. Or in Revelation chapter 7, verse 17, we have this promise that Jesus, the Lamb, He will also 00:18:37.919 --> 00:18:47.319 be the shepherd, and He will lead His people to springs of living water. John chapter 4, when Jesus meets the 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:55.119 Samaritan woman beside the well, promising the water I give, will become a spring of water welling up to 00:18:55.119 --> 00:19:02.339 eternal life. So, there's a strong connection between wells and life and salvation and joy, and we have it 00:19:02.339 --> 00:19:10.779 here in verse 3, with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. So, key to this joy that's 00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:16.399 experienced personally, key to this joy that's being spoken about for a whole people, is drinking deeply 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:25.759 from the wells of salvation. It's first of all receiving the offered rescue. It's experiencing 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:32.780 the gift of life. It's coming every day to receive strength for the journey of faith. 00:19:34.380 --> 00:19:41.360 There's a shift in verse 3 from the singular to the plural, with joy you all will draw water from the 00:19:41.360 --> 00:19:46.180 wells of salvation. Of course, it must be an experience for us as an individual Christian. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:54.960 But it's also the experience of the church, that we come together to receive and to enjoy saving grace 00:19:54.960 --> 00:20:04.300 and daily grace. And joy comes when we draw from the gospel wells. Notice it's wells. Not just a well, 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:11.580 it's wells. Wherever we go in the journey of life, there is grace for us. There is more joy to receive 00:20:11.579 --> 00:20:20.399 from Jesus. Think about that when it comes to our Bible reading. Do we come to our Bible reading 00:20:20.399 --> 00:20:28.879 looking to draw deeply, joyfully from the well of salvation? You know, we turn to a book like the 00:20:28.879 --> 00:20:36.960 book of Genesis. We hear these wonderful promises of blessing, of covenant blessing, of the way God works 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:42.960 through providence, that no failure of His people will stop His plans. Do we receive that with joy and 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:48.980 with hope? Or we go to the book of Exodus and we read about God's commitment to redeem and rescue His 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:56.059 power to bring a people to Himself for relationship. Does that give us a sense of joy when we realize He's 00:20:56.059 --> 00:21:03.100 still doing that? We turn to the book of Hebrews. We read those reflections about Jesus as the true 00:21:03.099 --> 00:21:09.619 prophet delivering God's final, greatest Word. We think about Him as the true priest, offering Himself 00:21:09.619 --> 00:21:16.099 as the perfect sacrifice and now ever living to intercede for us. As we think about Him as the great 00:21:16.099 --> 00:21:25.159 promised King who rules over the church, whose kingdom will not fall. Does it give us joy? Do we come to the 00:21:25.159 --> 00:21:31.579 Bible to drink deeply? As we go to a book like Galatians, as we're reminded again and again, we're not saved by 00:21:31.579 --> 00:21:37.599 law-keeping. We're saved by God's grace to us and Jesus received through faith alone. Or when we come 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:43.139 to the book of Revelation, does it give us a sense of joy as we remember time and time again Jesus saying 00:21:43.139 --> 00:21:50.159 to us, take heart, I will come back. I will make everything new. There will be justice and there 00:21:50.159 --> 00:21:57.939 will be salvation. There is an eternal kingdom of perfect love and joy. When we come to the Bible and we 00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:04.740 dig into wonderful doctrines, we discover the doctrine of adoption. We hear that God invites us to call Him 00:22:04.740 --> 00:22:11.000 Father, that He sends Jesus the Son so that we might be called sons of God, that the Spirit comes to live 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:22.080 in us, calling out Abba Father. When we discover the reality of justification, that we are declared right 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:28.740 before God through the work of Jesus so that nobody can condemn us, so that we know we're accepted. 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:34.639 When we think about the substitution of the Lord Jesus, all He went through for us, does it give us a 00:22:34.639 --> 00:22:45.579 sense of grateful joy? When we remember every salvation story is part of our family story as the church of God, 00:22:45.579 --> 00:22:53.199 every reminder of God's character in His Word is an invitation to us to behold and praise our God. 00:22:53.439 --> 00:22:59.639 Every promise, every do not fear come as words from our faithful Father and Savior. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:11.899 There is joy for us, and we're invited to draw and drink and live. God's Word is a well. 00:23:11.900 --> 00:23:18.040 I guess when people come to wells, they come feeling different things at different times, 00:23:18.300 --> 00:23:22.880 but certainly there's going to be times when people would come to a well with a sense of desperation, 00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:31.280 a sense of desperate thirst. Do we come like that to God's Word and to worship? 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:37.640 Remember the song, I heard the voice of Jesus say, 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:47.020 Behold, I freely give the living water, thirsty one. Stoop down and drink and live. 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:51.700 Sometimes if we're honest, we probably come to church with a sense of duty. 00:23:52.660 --> 00:23:55.740 Sometimes if we're honest, we probably read God's Word with a sense of duty. 00:23:56.380 --> 00:23:59.060 It's a good discipline. I can tick the box in my daily reading. 00:23:59.059 --> 00:24:09.799 Do we recognize that we have a well of salvation, a well of joy, a well of delight that's open for us? 00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:12.319 God's Word is a well. 00:24:14.179 --> 00:24:16.059 And we should ask Jesus for a drink. 00:24:17.299 --> 00:24:19.980 Remember that Samaritan woman back in John chapter 4? 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:23.059 She had thirst, didn't she? 00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:27.159 She was looking around all over the place to try and find a love that would last. 00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:33.560 She desperately wanted someone who would make her feel accepted and valued and give her a sense of security. 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:35.360 She was looking for something more. 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:39.779 And so when Jesus said, I can give you living water. 00:24:40.800 --> 00:24:41.960 Sir, give me a drink. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:44.420 I don't want to thirst anymore. 00:24:45.779 --> 00:24:51.940 Do we have that same longing that leads us to come to Jesus and say, give me grace? 00:24:51.940 --> 00:25:00.940 Do we come to God's Word asking our Father, give me grace from this well that will not fail? 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:04.519 So we thought about personal joy. 00:25:05.700 --> 00:25:09.299 And then we thought of this joyful experience, this shared experience of God's grace. 00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:12.360 And that naturally leads to the last section, verse 4 to 6, 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:17.939 which is all about a joyful sharing of God's grace. 00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:21.879 And my brother helped to illustrate this for me last night. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:23.619 My brother's very kind and he's very generous. 00:25:24.539 --> 00:25:29.000 Last week, he went out, him and his wife went out and had a wonderful meal, 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:30.740 a murder mystery themed meal. 00:25:31.479 --> 00:25:33.859 And halfway through the meal, he thought to himself, 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:35.839 I know someone else who'd really like this. 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:39.279 Because I love murder mystery and I like food. 00:25:39.859 --> 00:25:44.339 And so he very kindly gave us a gift voucher to go out for a meal last night. 00:25:44.399 --> 00:25:45.000 It was very nice. 00:25:45.779 --> 00:25:47.240 But think about that impulse. 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:48.759 And we know this ourselves. 00:25:49.539 --> 00:25:50.419 Here is an experience. 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:51.579 Here is a taste of joy. 00:25:51.659 --> 00:25:52.579 I'm enjoying something. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:54.639 What's going to complete my joy is sharing it. 00:25:56.519 --> 00:25:58.419 That takes us to the church on mission. 00:25:58.419 --> 00:26:00.500 I've had a personal experience of joy. 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:02.199 First couple of verses. 00:26:02.779 --> 00:26:05.759 Now I'm drinking deeply from God's joy in verse 3. 00:26:06.299 --> 00:26:09.480 What naturally follows, I'm going to joyfully share. 00:26:10.379 --> 00:26:13.039 Takes us to the mission of God, which is a mission of joy. 00:26:13.859 --> 00:26:14.919 What's the mission of the church? 00:26:14.980 --> 00:26:16.480 It's sharing the joy of Jesus. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:17.639 It's sharing. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:19.399 Here is what Jesus has done for me. 00:26:19.779 --> 00:26:21.220 How he has had mercy on me. 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:24.939 It's letting the world know the Lord is great. 00:26:25.339 --> 00:26:27.980 So again, what we've got in view here is the whole people of God. 00:26:28.639 --> 00:26:33.539 It's individuals saved by grace brought together as a community of faith together proclaiming. 00:26:33.539 --> 00:26:34.859 Verse 4. 00:26:35.059 --> 00:26:35.980 Give praise to the Lord. 00:26:36.180 --> 00:26:37.440 Proclaim his name. 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:40.899 Make known among the nations what he has done. 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:41.920 What's our message? 00:26:42.639 --> 00:26:44.000 According to Isaiah 12. 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:44.579 Verse 4. 00:26:44.700 --> 00:26:46.720 We proclaim that God's name is great. 00:26:48.420 --> 00:26:50.539 His name is exalted. 00:26:50.680 --> 00:26:51.839 We proclaim his name. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:53.779 His name is a reflection of his character. 00:26:53.940 --> 00:26:55.399 What are we invited to do? 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:58.620 We're invited to say there is no one like our God. 00:26:59.620 --> 00:27:02.540 There is no one whose character is so high and perfect. 00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:07.300 There is no one who is perfect in holiness like our God, matchless in majesty. 00:27:07.820 --> 00:27:11.160 He is the creator and king over all the world, over all people. 00:27:11.540 --> 00:27:13.120 His nature is unchanging. 00:27:13.500 --> 00:27:16.019 His love is steadfast. 00:27:16.560 --> 00:27:18.920 We proclaim God's name. 00:27:18.920 --> 00:27:25.960 And for us now, now that Jesus has come, we proclaim Jesus is Lord. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:33.480 We proclaim he is the one who deserves love and loyalty, who deserves trust and obedience. 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:34.660 God's name is great. 00:27:34.779 --> 00:27:36.160 God's works are great. 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:37.660 Verse 5. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:44.360 Sing to the Lord this still joyful praise, for he has done glorious things. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:46.840 Let this be known to all the world. 00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:49.199 God's works are great. 00:27:50.220 --> 00:27:52.959 God's works of creation are great. 00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:57.179 He is a personal, glorious creator. 00:27:57.539 --> 00:28:00.879 Again, just to go back to the founder of Wikipedia that recently became a Christian, 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:07.039 the other thing that he found quite compelling was the variety of thoughtful presentations 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:10.839 given to him over the years of the case for a creator. 00:28:10.839 --> 00:28:19.259 We can look at the universe and we can see the fine-tuning, sometimes called the Goldilocks 00:28:19.259 --> 00:28:25.139 effect, that the world is just so, the conditions are just right for human life and human flourishing. 00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:30.919 Or there's so much evidence, even within our own bodies and our complexity, for intelligent design. 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:36.180 Or we can think more philosophically about where's the basis for our morality. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:41.600 If we have a justice system, well, what's the objective standard for what is just and right? 00:28:42.600 --> 00:28:45.960 Or we can look more widely and think about the beauty of the universe. 00:28:46.080 --> 00:28:47.440 Where does beauty come from? 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:53.460 Or we can think internally, where do these deep human longings come from and where are they going to be satisfied? 00:28:53.460 --> 00:28:58.680 And putting all those together, this Wikipedia founder, I should really have remembered his name, 00:28:59.140 --> 00:29:04.640 all helped him to recognize there's a personal creator. 00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:08.920 And he was drawn towards the creator, but obviously more than that, 00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:14.079 as much as it's important for us to invite people to see the glory of God in his creation, 00:29:14.200 --> 00:29:20.840 we must go further and we must let people know there is a personal savior. 00:29:20.839 --> 00:29:28.679 These glorious things that God has done for us as Christians are glorious redemption things. 00:29:31.059 --> 00:29:37.459 So again, we can think about the promise, first promise made in the Bible to Adam and Eve 00:29:37.459 --> 00:29:44.759 after they'd fallen into sin, that one would come from their family line who would crush the head of the serpent, 00:29:44.899 --> 00:29:49.639 one who would defeat and destroy the power of evil and sin that leads to death. 00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:50.900 And we know that that's Jesus. 00:29:52.680 --> 00:29:53.520 Go to Abraham. 00:29:54.120 --> 00:29:58.960 Think about that promise of one coming from his family who'd be the source of blessing to all nations. 00:29:59.080 --> 00:30:00.820 We know that that's Jesus. 00:30:02.360 --> 00:30:07.380 We think about that king of perfect righteousness promised to David who would rule and reign forever. 00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:10.380 We know it's fulfilled in Jesus. 00:30:10.380 --> 00:30:19.140 We know that Jesus has come to establish the new covenant in his broken body and shed blood at the cross whereby our sins are forgiven. 00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:24.140 We have the law written in our hearts and we have the spirit given to us. 00:30:24.140 --> 00:30:35.800 And we know that Jesus has come once and he has defeated on the cross the powers of darkness and he's risen from the dead and he's coming again and he'll make everything new, including his people. 00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:46.619 And so we share Jesus, the glorious and great works of Jesus that our creator has entered in, in order to redeem. 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:49.079 God's name is great. 00:30:49.159 --> 00:30:50.700 God's works are great. 00:30:51.379 --> 00:30:52.500 Look at verse 6. 00:30:52.500 --> 00:31:00.559 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you. 00:31:01.299 --> 00:31:04.640 God among us is great. 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:09.180 Jesus is the promised Emmanuel. 00:31:09.880 --> 00:31:11.000 God with us. 00:31:11.339 --> 00:31:16.059 God with us in his incarnation and becoming one of us. 00:31:16.539 --> 00:31:20.700 God with us as he dwells in the hearts of his people. 00:31:20.700 --> 00:31:21.920 God with us in the heart of his people. 00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:27.039 There's this wonderful news within the Bible that God has not stayed at a distance, 00:31:27.860 --> 00:31:31.460 that God has not lived with that sense of separation, 00:31:32.059 --> 00:31:38.900 but rather he has made a way for the gap to be bridged through his reconciliation, through the sending of his son. 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:43.700 It's been really encouraging and I think lots of people have been noticing it. 00:31:43.700 --> 00:31:52.279 And even to hear the reports from the Christian Union of hundreds of people coming to listen and to go to different events, 00:31:52.360 --> 00:31:56.460 that there's a growing spiritual interest in an up-and-coming generation. 00:31:57.400 --> 00:32:04.019 People who are searching for something more, people who are looking to connect with, at very least, spiritual reality. 00:32:04.019 --> 00:32:10.079 And so our mission, our joyful mission, is to let people know God can be known. 00:32:10.200 --> 00:32:11.519 God wants to be known. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:13.180 God can be experienced. 00:32:13.299 --> 00:32:14.819 He wants to be experienced personally. 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:19.319 And that's abundantly clear because he sent his own son, Jesus, into the world. 00:32:20.460 --> 00:32:22.379 He came among us to save us. 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:28.539 And he comes among us to live with us, to give us grace and power, 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:31.859 until he comes again to be with his people forever. 00:32:31.859 --> 00:32:40.139 And so we have a joyful mission to share of the goodness and the greatness of our God. 00:32:40.719 --> 00:32:45.399 Again, if we're being honest, that's probably not always how we feel about our mission. 00:32:46.419 --> 00:32:48.079 Sometimes we feel fearful about it. 00:32:48.659 --> 00:32:52.299 Sometimes we feel discouraged because we don't see much change. 00:32:53.579 --> 00:32:59.319 Sometimes we worry about having all the answers to people's hard questions, 00:32:59.319 --> 00:33:02.960 and we can really complicate things for ourselves and sometimes for others. 00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:06.119 It's important to have reasons for hope. 00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:11.480 But it's also important for us to remember we have a story to tell. 00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:14.220 We have a personal story to tell. 00:33:14.919 --> 00:33:17.319 And we have the story of Jesus to tell. 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.200 A personal experience of the joy of salvation, 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:24.279 of the joy of belonging to Jesus, 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:30.120 the joyful hope that comes from being with Jesus now and with Jesus forever. 00:33:31.480 --> 00:33:33.400 And we can share that with others. 00:33:34.580 --> 00:33:37.140 It's a joy that must first, of course, be personal. 00:33:38.340 --> 00:33:40.600 But that brings us into a shared experience. 00:33:41.880 --> 00:33:45.240 A people of God who share the joy of salvation. 00:33:45.240 --> 00:33:51.079 And as He draws us in to taste and to see that He is good, 00:33:51.819 --> 00:33:56.579 He then sends us out to complete our joy by inviting others in. 00:33:59.059 --> 00:34:00.620 Verse 3 reminds us, 00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:06.519 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 00:34:07.420 --> 00:34:08.980 It may be true for all of us. 00:34:09.659 --> 00:34:11.760 This week we have that joyful experience, 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:13.660 personally, collectively, 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:17.360 as we recognize the goodness, the greatness, 00:34:17.520 --> 00:34:20.420 the glory of God in His salvation.