WEBVTT 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:06.940 Keep hold of Isaiah chapter 40 and we're going to be reading from verse 12 down to verse 26. 00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:09.980 Vanessa is going to come and read for us. 00:00:11.700 --> 00:00:16.100 Isaiah chapter 40 verses 12 through to 26. 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:21.940 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand? 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:25.339 Or with the breadth of his hand has marked off the heavens? 00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:29.600 Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket? 00:00:30.500 --> 00:00:34.159 Or weighed the mountains on the scales of the hills in a balance? 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:40.920 Who can fathom the spirit of the Lord or instruct the Lord as his counsellor? 00:00:42.019 --> 00:00:45.060 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him? 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:47.379 And who taught him the right way? 00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:53.299 Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding? 00:00:55.019 --> 00:00:58.320 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:01.840 They are regarded as dust on the scales. 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:06.439 He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:13.480 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings. 00:01:14.659 --> 00:01:18.060 Before him, all the nations are as nothing. 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:22.799 They are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:28.259 With whom then will you compare gold? 00:01:29.259 --> 00:01:31.799 To what image will you liken him? 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:41.840 As for an idol, a metal worker casts it and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:47.960 A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:54.479 They look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:57.759 Do you not know? 00:01:58.759 --> 00:02:00.379 Have you not heard? 00:02:01.039 --> 00:02:03.239 Has it not been told you from the beginning? 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:07.159 Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:15.840 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth and its people are like grasshoppers. 00:02:16.519 --> 00:02:22.099 He stretches out the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:28.180 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:30.800 No sooner are they planted. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:33.480 No sooner are they sown. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:39.439 No sooner do they take root in the ground than he blows on them and they wither. 00:02:40.340 --> 00:02:43.420 And a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 00:02:44.860 --> 00:02:46.719 To whom will you compare me? 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:48.280 Or who is my equal? 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:49.340 Says the Holy One. 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:52.879 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:55.420 Who created all these? 00:02:55.419 --> 00:03:03.179 He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. 00:03:03.939 --> 00:03:09.979 Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 00:03:15.259 --> 00:03:16.759 Great, thank you, Vanessa. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:20.079 Let's pray and ask for the Lord's help as we look at those verses together. 00:03:20.179 --> 00:03:20.519 Let's pray. 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:31.200 Gracious God, we thank you so much that you're a speaking God and that this is your word to us this morning. 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:38.359 I'm so certain that I have nothing to say on my own. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:41.719 But Lord, I pray that you might use me for the sake of your glory this morning. 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:51.159 May each of us have tender hearts towards you and eagerness to listen to what you might be saying to us, we pray. 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:59.419 And we ask, Lord, that the comfort of Isaiah 40 might belong to us and be ours through your word this morning. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:00.740 In Jesus' name. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:01.560 Amen. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:02.460 Amen. 00:04:02.460 --> 00:04:07.860 So, we're jumping into the middle of Isaiah 40. 00:04:08.620 --> 00:04:12.900 And if you've not been with us before, if you're visiting, it's really good to have you. 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:15.640 Last week, we looked at the beginning of Isaiah chapter 40. 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:24.240 And next week, we're going to look at the end of Isaiah 40 as we kind of look at Isaiah's prophecies about the coming of the Savior. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:54.220 Isaiah 40. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:55.960 What's going on in the passage is this. 00:04:56.860 --> 00:04:58.079 It's saying to us this. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:01.180 There is not a problem that you have. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:01.759 Right? 00:05:01.860 --> 00:05:04.660 There's not a difficult situation that you face. 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:14.259 There is not a worry on your mind or your heart, which is not comforted by a bigger view of God and who he is. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:14.620 Right? 00:05:15.960 --> 00:05:21.860 I'm not saying, the passage is not saying that if you have a big view of God, you will never have another problem. 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:22.079 Right? 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:22.900 It's not saying that. 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:25.120 It's not saying that's not true. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:25.539 Right? 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.539 It isn't, you know, get a big view of God and problems vanish. 00:05:28.679 --> 00:05:31.120 There are prosperity churches around our city. 00:05:31.599 --> 00:05:32.479 They're full of people. 00:05:32.479 --> 00:05:33.339 And they teach that. 00:05:33.459 --> 00:05:34.519 And it's false and it's dangerous. 00:05:35.019 --> 00:05:35.719 This is the point. 00:05:35.799 --> 00:05:35.959 Right? 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:49.759 The point is that all of our worries, all of our struggles in life, all of our sufferings are not necessarily caused by a small view of God, but they are aggravated by a small view of God. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:55.399 It's a small view of God and who he is. 00:05:55.399 --> 00:06:03.219 That's a myth, which denies us, the comfort that God intends us to have in the midst of our suffering and difficulty. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:04.779 Do you understand me? 00:06:04.779 --> 00:06:11.259 now i want us to think about how this works in our lives but before we get there 00:06:11.259 --> 00:06:16.159 just think about some of the examples in the bible about how this works out now don't worry 00:06:16.159 --> 00:06:20.959 if you've never met any of these characters from the bible before but let me just introduce you to 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:26.419 a few people who in god's word discover that the bigness of god the greatness of god provides the 00:06:26.419 --> 00:06:33.059 comfort of god okay the comfort that isaiah 40 is talking about joe if you've heard of him is the 00:06:33.060 --> 00:06:40.360 great sufferer of the bible job's book is all about innocent suffering faced by a man who 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:48.560 really doesn't deserve the horrors that happen to him what what at the end of the book though is god's 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:55.639 pastoral wisdom for job you know job the great sufferer meets god and hears from him at the end 00:06:55.639 --> 00:07:02.540 of the book what does god say to him who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:10.040 have you ever given orders to the morning job have you ever shown the dawn its place job 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:15.620 of course the answer is no i haven't here's god's pastoral wisdom to job the sufferer 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:20.240 i am bigger and more majestic and more glorious than you imagined 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:26.759 joshua is the guy who leads the conquest of the promised land and he's on the cusp of the battle for 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:32.939 jericho it's the very first battle it's the very first time he's facing up to the enemies he's 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:40.759 leading god's people on his own moses has died and he sees a man walking towards him with a drawn sword 00:07:40.759 --> 00:07:48.759 and joshua asks this man are you for us or are you against us and then this character who is clearly 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:55.539 intimidating to joshua replies he goes neither i am the commander of the armies of the lord he says 00:07:55.539 --> 00:08:00.639 and i have come joshua falls on his face 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:09.019 you know his god's pastoral wisdom to joshua on the face of this great battle he's like listen 00:08:09.019 --> 00:08:17.439 i am mighty and majestic it's not me coming down to be on your side you are getting to be on my team 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:25.660 later on in the old testament elisha's servant is panicking in the city of dothan because he finds 00:08:25.660 --> 00:08:31.879 that it's surrounded by enemy armies and he is terrified and elisha says to the lord says please 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:36.179 lord will you open the eyes of my servant so he can see what's really going on here 00:08:36.179 --> 00:08:43.000 and he sees that on the hill surrounding dothan behind the army are chariots and horses of fire the 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:49.740 lord's armies are surrounding them here's god's antidote to fear and panic listen i'm bigger and 00:08:49.740 --> 00:08:55.659 more glorious than you thought let's try and be a bit more topical the christmas story zechariah the 00:08:55.659 --> 00:09:02.559 priest he hears about the birth of john the baptist the one who's going to prepare the way for jesus and 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:08.679 he doubts the word that he's heard right so he hears that he's going to have this child and he doubts 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:13.239 that that's actually going to happen because he realizes he's really old and his wife is really 00:09:13.239 --> 00:09:22.539 old and so the reply that comes from the angel is this i am gabriel and i stand in the presence of the 00:09:22.539 --> 00:09:29.299 lord it's like listen zechariah i know you're worried about this but have you any idea who i am and where 00:09:29.299 --> 00:09:38.039 i'm from you've just got a small view of god the suffering church in the book of revelation who receive 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:43.279 the message of john in revelation they're told at the very beginning of the book that the one who is 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:49.599 speaking to them is whom i am the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end who was and who is 00:09:49.599 --> 00:09:57.199 and is to come almighty he says you're suffering church what hope have you got what comfort are you 00:09:57.199 --> 00:10:04.000 going to find well here it is i am the first the last the one who is and was and is to come the almighty 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:09.340 because as isaiah 40 will tell us this morning there is not a problem that you have there is not a 00:10:09.340 --> 00:10:16.279 situation that you face there is not a worry which you have which is not comforted by a bigger clearer 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:24.960 view of the majesty and the glory of god small views of god aggravate suffering and this morning that's 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:32.120 true for you i know that in a gathering like this there are a lot of struggles and troubles 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:41.000 maybe you're facing personal struggles family struggles work struggles grief loss sadness anxiety 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.879 about the future you know one of the reasons that we're looking at this chapter in the build up to 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:49.920 christmas is because i think christmas time brings some of those things which we spend the rest of the 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:55.500 year pushing to one side it brings them to the four doesn't it the missing person at the christmas table 00:10:55.500 --> 00:11:05.079 the work struggle and anxiety as you face the bill for a big christmas the sadness the loss the anxiety 00:11:05.079 --> 00:11:13.779 about family struggles you know we live don't we as well in a country which is in turmoil a world that's 00:11:13.779 --> 00:11:19.779 in turmoil and isaiah 40 tells you that in the midst of all that comfort comes from a bigger 00:11:19.779 --> 00:11:25.879 view of god comfort comes from a bigger view of god now listen in a way that's all i've got to tell 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:32.720 you this morning right that's all i've got to teach you comfort comes from a bigger view of god right 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:36.959 and if you've come this morning just wanting to learn a few facts right that's it you can tick it 00:11:36.959 --> 00:11:41.319 off that was it that's the only thing i've got to tell you but we don't come to the bible do we just 00:11:41.319 --> 00:11:48.279 to learn facts we actually come with a deeper purpose than that we actually come to god's words not only 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:55.339 to learn stuff in our heads but actually to experience the god of comfort don't we and so 00:11:55.339 --> 00:12:00.799 what i want us to do is to look at these verses and tease this out and essentially to be pasted by god 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:06.459 in him giving us this bigger view of himself and to see how that works out in the situations that we 00:12:06.459 --> 00:12:11.939 face and there are three things i want to show to you from these verses the first one is this you can be 00:12:11.940 --> 00:12:17.980 comforted because god fathoms the world you can't fathom him verses 12 to 14. 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:25.020 isaiah's style as you look down at the passage is to ask obvious questions that lead us to a conclusion 00:12:25.020 --> 00:12:30.420 that he's driving at so god is the answer to all the questions in verse 12 who has measured the waters 00:12:30.420 --> 00:12:35.460 in the hollow of his hand or with the breath of his hands marked off the heavens not you not me 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:41.759 god is the answer and no one is the answer to the questions in verses 13 to 14 who can fathom the 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:47.480 spirit of the lord no one who can instruct the lord as his counselor no one whom did the lord consult 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:53.820 to enlighten him no one okay so verse 12 god alone is the one for whom the waters and the oceans are 00:12:53.820 --> 00:12:59.820 just a drop in the hollow of his hand yeah god alone now that the point here is not so much the 00:12:59.820 --> 00:13:04.740 physical scale of god it's not that isaiah is trying to get you to think of god as like a huge man 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:09.600 right who's got such big hands that trillions of gallons of the pacific ocean are just like a drop 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:16.320 in his palm it's not a literal image is it no this is a picture language god is spirit right he's 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:23.139 inescapably present everywhere in his omnipresence he doesn't have hands in that sense to hold the 00:13:23.139 --> 00:13:28.039 water these words are meant to communicate something more than physical size to you 00:13:28.039 --> 00:13:36.259 the point really is that god holds or grasps or understands or directs the world 00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:43.659 the the contrast is that that god does that for the world the world does not do that for him it cannot 00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:51.639 in other words god is not part of creation to be studied he doesn't dwell in the creation he is over 00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:59.600 creation controlling the elements of the universe creation does not teach god verse 14 god has nothing 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:06.460 to learn from the world because god knows it already in fact it only exists because he knows it 00:14:06.460 --> 00:14:13.980 it's slightly lost in our niv translations but the word fathom in verse 13 is the same as the word 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:21.580 marked off in verse 12 so what you've got is this comparison between god as the one who fathoms the 00:14:21.580 --> 00:14:28.620 heavens and all that he's made while we as creatures we cannot fathom him he's beyond us 00:14:28.620 --> 00:14:35.440 now again just to be clear isaiah's point is not that god has a bigger brain than you of course i 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.340 suppose in one sense that's true but but we shouldn't really think about god like that 00:14:39.340 --> 00:14:45.860 rather is that that our knowledge of god is on a on a totally different level or plane to him 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:53.600 god isn't learning about the world we are learning about him we have nothing to teach him we have 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:58.480 everything to learn from him let me try and illustrate what isaiah is saying here i don't know 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:03.180 whether you know this guy at nicolaus otto come on elise 00:15:03.180 --> 00:15:12.600 the clicker is really glitchy so it's not actually elise's fault nicolaus otto does anyone know who he is 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:20.740 anyone know what he invented well imagine for a moment that you meet nicolaus otto right and you 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:27.379 introduce him to your car you see nicolaus otto is the guy who invented the four stroke engine 00:15:27.379 --> 00:15:31.300 okay and you you introduce him to your car say hey nicolaus i've got something to show you 00:15:31.300 --> 00:15:35.620 right come and have a look at this and you flip the bonnet of your car and as long as it's not an 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:39.800 electric one you point out to him you know this is this is how it works okay these are the these are the 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:45.120 four strokes you get compression and then you get spark you get ignition and then you get exhaust and 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:49.279 you know i want to i want to work this through with you can you can you see how this works what 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:57.919 would nicolaus say to you he said what are you doing don't patronize me the very idea of that engine 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:05.719 started in here before it was ever there you can't teach me about your engine i thought of it 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:12.740 and then it came into existence you can't teach me you'd be a fool now that that's the point here 00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:19.000 you can't teach god anything about the world the world existed in the mind of god and then came 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:27.060 into existence you can't teach him it because it only exists because he knows it he thought of it 00:16:27.060 --> 00:16:32.560 he thought of you thought of me we can't measure it out for him we can't fathom it 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:38.599 and isaiah says to you that that should be a comfort to you how should that be a comfort to you 00:16:38.599 --> 00:16:46.959 well here it is it's because his assumption is that the anxiety of god's people is because they 00:16:46.959 --> 00:16:55.479 overestimate their own understanding and they underestimate god's listen this is what it is 00:16:55.480 --> 00:17:02.000 this is what makes you anxious is you overestimate your ability to understand and you underestimate 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:09.660 god's ability to understand we assume that we should know stuff when we don't and we assume god 00:17:09.660 --> 00:17:16.000 doesn't know stuff when he does you know how this works don't you those endless hours of analysis 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:21.279 those sleepless nights tossing and turning trying to work out what's happening and why you know if only 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:26.420 i've done a and b instead of x and y then would i really be in this place now would would this have 00:17:26.420 --> 00:17:31.660 happened but isaiah 40 says to you listen if you're looking for the comfort of the lord 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:38.879 that's a pointless exercise the comfort of the lord comes from knowing that god knows and we don't 00:17:38.879 --> 00:17:46.599 there is a god who rules and reigns who fathoms the world and you cannot fathom him 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:51.519 i don't know whether you know bill bryson you know bill bryson he wrote a book called the short 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:56.039 history of nearly everything which i read a few years ago and he he's not a christian by any means 00:17:56.039 --> 00:18:00.559 in fact he would call himself the opposite of a christian um he uh he doesn't believe in god at all 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:07.579 which is remarkable when you read his book his book ends like this he says the upshot of all of this 00:18:07.579 --> 00:18:13.359 is that we live in a universe whose age we can't quite compute surrounded by stars whose distances 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:18.939 we don't altogether know filled with matter we can't identify operating in conformance with 00:18:18.939 --> 00:18:26.039 physical laws whose properties we don't truly understand says bill bryson in other words says 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:35.339 isaiah you can't fathom god but he fathoms you and you should be comforted by that secondly we move from 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:42.659 science to religion be comforted because god owns the world and you can't buy him off this is 15 to 17 00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:48.980 as you look at it verse 15 seems at first quite similar to verse 12 surely the nations are like 00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:55.220 a drop in a bucket they're regarded as dust in the scales but it's not quite a repetition of the 00:18:55.220 --> 00:19:00.200 measuring the waters in the hollow of the hand here the point is not so much god's overseeing power but 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:05.000 his ownership so as we were talking with the children it's not just that god understands or 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:10.820 fathoms the universe but that god owns the stuff of the world and carries it around in that sense 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:16.159 with even the very great things in our world the impressiveness of the nations being just like dust 00:19:16.159 --> 00:19:22.759 to him which means that you can't buy god off that point is driven home isn't it in verse 16 that even 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:28.439 all the burnt wood of lebanon and sacrificed all its animals on the fire you still wouldn't own god god 00:19:28.439 --> 00:19:34.819 would not owe you a single thing if you gave him all that the world has because all the wood and all the 00:19:34.819 --> 00:19:39.480 animals were already his carried around by him as just a little bit of dust on a scales or a drop in a 00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:45.960 bucket which means verse 17 that they are nothing in comparison to him they are nothing and empty 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:54.900 this is this is so brilliant and so important let me try and impress it on you if i can isaiah here is 00:19:54.900 --> 00:20:00.819 knocking on the head all versions of religious comfort okay there are a lot of versions of religious 00:20:00.819 --> 00:20:06.220 comfort including versions of christian religious comfort but the very idea that you could perform a 00:20:06.220 --> 00:20:13.440 certain deed or enact a certain ritual or do us a certain good deed or sacrifice in such a way that 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:19.980 the creator of the universe owed you comfort is utterly ridiculous right this is just not the 00:20:19.980 --> 00:20:25.140 spiritual economy that we live in the idea that god would be impressed or bought off by what you chose 00:20:25.140 --> 00:20:31.220 to eat or not eat or the way that you chose to dress or not dress or the performance of a particular 00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:38.480 religious ceremony that frankly is an insult to the size of who god is his greatness and his majesty 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:45.960 do you imagine that the god to whom the nations are just like the dust on the scales is bothered 00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:53.380 about that is bought off by what you choose to wear or not wear or eat or not eat or go or not go 00:20:53.380 --> 00:21:00.340 of course not the ceremonies that existed in the old testament exist not for god's benefit but for 00:21:00.340 --> 00:21:05.800 the education of the people the people twisted them assuming that god was impressed by the nations and 00:21:05.800 --> 00:21:10.720 bought off by the animal sacrifices but of course the bible was teaching over and over and over and over 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:19.080 that's not the case solomon built the old testament temple centuries before isaiah and he says when it's 00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:25.319 completed solomon praised the prayer of dedication and says we cannot build anything that would contain 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:31.619 you god you're too big and glorious and majestic the apostle paul when he's preaching in athens says 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:36.199 pretty much the same thing in act 17 when he says that the god who made the world and everything in it 00:21:36.199 --> 00:21:42.740 being lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man nor is he served by human hands as 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:48.880 though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breadth and everything 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:56.480 here paul is surrounded by by basically godless atheistic and idolatrous people and says listen 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:06.960 you've got it all wrong god is not served by you he's not needing stuff he is here to give to you 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:12.579 not receive from you and here it is too god is before all things above all things he is self-sufficient 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:17.639 in his own being he is of infinitely more value than the stuff of creation he does not need 00:22:17.639 --> 00:22:25.179 us he did not create the world or you and me to fill a void in his existence which means that he's 00:22:25.179 --> 00:22:30.079 not looking is he for us to prop him up with some grand gesture of worship we can't buy him off with 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:37.059 religious duty as if we could twist the arm of god from whom all things amends again let me try and 00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:41.799 illustrate this point just to drive it home a bit imagine it like this imagine an eight-year-old who is 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:48.799 trying to rent their bedroom off the parents using his pocket money right so this this eight-year-old 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:54.919 boy he he does princess listen i'm gonna rent my room and you know what are you gonna rent your room 00:22:54.919 --> 00:23:00.339 with with my money well where's your money gonna come from oh my my pocket money oh where does your 00:23:00.339 --> 00:23:05.899 pocket money come from it comes from you who are you gonna pay your rent to well you you see there's a 00:23:05.900 --> 00:23:11.740 kind of craziness isn't there to it if he if he could even raise the kind of amount of money that 00:23:11.740 --> 00:23:18.800 he needed to it would only ever come from you right ridiculous but that's religious observance 00:23:18.800 --> 00:23:25.280 it takes the stuff that we have received from god and assumes in a moment of madness that we can use 00:23:25.280 --> 00:23:31.360 what god has given us to pay him off it's like that was mine already what are you doing that belongs 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:37.819 to me what are you doing isaiah says if we think like that our god is too small because god the god 00:23:37.819 --> 00:23:42.759 who is there who made the world from him and through him and to him are all things and he doesn't need you 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:52.939 isaiah is not teaching us this though is he to make us nervous perhaps that makes you nervous about god 00:23:52.940 --> 00:24:00.240 because he's so big but he's teaching us it to bring us comfort so how does that work well think 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:06.000 about how often we drift into this wrong way of thinking about god you know even when you've been 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:12.019 a christian for years you can still assume can't you that somehow it's our works for him that control 00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:17.700 what we receive from him you know if things are going badly in our life you you maybe assume that 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:21.100 you've done something wrong and if things are going well you assume that you must be being rewarded 00:24:21.099 --> 00:24:26.619 so you've got to keep this nice christian show on the road right even if it means faking it sunday by 00:24:26.619 --> 00:24:32.419 sunday now there are lots of ways of thinking like that and it's it's wrong and unhelpful isn't it but 00:24:32.419 --> 00:24:38.139 isaiah's problem with that here in isaiah 40 is it makes god too small and pretends that it can limit 00:24:38.139 --> 00:24:44.959 god's freedom that it can bind him to our will by our offerings but that's nonsense god is free is free 00:24:44.959 --> 00:24:50.980 to obey his own will he's not captive is he to ours there's nothing that we can do that place 00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:57.539 god's in god in our debt and this is the comfort of that right you see go back to that eight-year-old 00:24:57.539 --> 00:25:01.839 trying to rent his bedroom there is an instinct there which is not altogether wrong is it the 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:05.160 eight-year-old is beginning to understand which is quite advanced for an eight-year-old that there 00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:10.500 is a cost to living right most eight-year-olds don't know that but this one seems to that the 00:25:10.500 --> 00:25:15.360 room is not there for free and so the religious person is not entirely wrong in the sense that they 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:22.059 have seen that there is a cost to living if you and i live in god's world right if he gave us the 00:25:22.059 --> 00:25:26.979 lives that we have then we must in some sense live them for him there is a there is a cost to that 00:25:26.979 --> 00:25:31.699 there's a price to be owed and especially when you realize that you haven't actually lived to the 00:25:31.699 --> 00:25:35.399 standard of the god who made you then there's an even bigger debt to be paid isn't there there's 00:25:35.399 --> 00:25:39.879 even bigger cost of living you know you and i can't stand here and say we've lived up to our own 00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:45.620 expectations never mind up to god's and the religious person feels that debt they feel that 00:25:45.620 --> 00:25:52.440 price is owed the mistake that they make is thinking that they can pay it and isaiah 40 sort of leaves that 00:25:52.440 --> 00:26:02.520 debt hanging but then 13 chapters later in isaiah 53 you're told of a suffering servant someone who has 00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:10.859 come to pay that debt themselves and the suffering servant in isaiah is god himself clothes is himself 00:26:10.859 --> 00:26:17.859 in human flesh sacrificing his own life on the cross as the payment of the debt we could never pay 00:26:17.859 --> 00:26:27.819 here is the comfort of isaiah 40 you can't buy god off but he's already paid he's already paid 00:26:27.819 --> 00:26:34.899 so there's no righteous act that you could do to satisfy him but he has done it there's nothing 00:26:34.899 --> 00:26:42.720 that you own that you could give to purchase your relief but god has sent his son to die on a cross 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:48.399 to pay the debt that we owe the unpayable debt has been paid through jesus christ 00:26:48.399 --> 00:26:55.500 finally then be comforted god made us we cannot make him 00:26:55.500 --> 00:27:01.660 again the logic of the passage in these last verses is inescapable if you look down at them 00:27:01.660 --> 00:27:08.339 with whom will you then compare god to what image will you liken him now god if god is the one who 00:27:08.339 --> 00:27:13.599 holds the oceans in his hand is of greater value than all creation it follows that you can't make 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:18.599 a god from the things that you find lying around what's interesting though as you look at the detail 00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:23.579 i think is it's not just the making of idols that is being ridiculed but the making of images 00:27:23.579 --> 00:27:28.759 in other words it's not just making something and saying that that is god it's also making something 00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:34.599 and say that looks like god right it's breaking both the first commandment and the second commandment 00:27:34.599 --> 00:27:39.500 the first commandment is that we're not to worship anything else as god other than god 00:27:39.500 --> 00:27:43.220 and the second commandment is that we should not make an image in his likeness 00:27:43.220 --> 00:27:47.819 saying that we can sort of reduce god to something that we've made that looks like him 00:27:47.819 --> 00:27:53.799 because says isaiah god is incomparable there is nothing that you can make that means it's like 00:27:53.799 --> 00:28:00.519 him verse 19 and again this point is so obvious as isaiah he makes it sarcastically doesn't he look 00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:07.539 down at verse 21 do you not know have you not hurt has it not been told from you the beginning 00:28:07.539 --> 00:28:12.139 have you not understood since the earth was founded did you not get the memo people 00:28:12.140 --> 00:28:18.759 god sits enthroned above the circle of the earth and its people are like grasshoppers he stretches out 00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:26.280 the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent you can't make him it's really very simple 00:28:26.280 --> 00:28:31.100 isn't it if god is the one who is above all things makes sustains and brings to nothing all things you 00:28:31.100 --> 00:28:38.240 cannot compare him to anything verse 25 you cannot make anything draw anything or build anything or say 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:44.680 this is what god is like i think it's interesting in contemporary christianity that we are less and 00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:51.539 less rooted in the scriptures we've become more suspicious over time of written texts and so images 00:28:51.539 --> 00:28:56.779 start to stand in for reading the bible and studying the bible just like they did before the reformation 00:28:56.779 --> 00:29:01.299 you know whether it's a piece of art to look at look at that and think of god or whether it's an 00:29:01.299 --> 00:29:06.120 object to hold you know hold on to that look at that and think of god or a piece of music to listen to 00:29:06.119 --> 00:29:12.339 while we let our imagination wander asking people what they imagine god to be like or what they think 00:29:12.339 --> 00:29:18.439 of when they think of god and isaiah says listen all of that is nonsense god is way too big for you to 00:29:18.439 --> 00:29:25.279 rely on your imagination god is way too glorious for you to draw him instead he says verse 26 if you want 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:31.339 an image of god's greatness step outside on a clear night probably outside of london so you can actually see 00:29:31.339 --> 00:29:36.919 and you will see the stars of the sky and as you understand the stars of the sky through the lens of 00:29:36.919 --> 00:29:45.240 the scriptures ask yourself who made all of those who knows each one of them by name billions of stars 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:54.159 trillions of miles away god knows them he sustains them who makes sure that not one is missing god does 00:29:54.159 --> 00:29:58.599 as i said you won't fit that into a stained glass window will you you won't even fit that into your 00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:04.679 imagination but that's what god is like alec matea puts it like this in his commentary on these verses 00:30:04.679 --> 00:30:12.839 he says that god originates everything god maintains everything in existence god controls everything in 00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:21.679 operation god directs everything to the ends to which he appoints them let's just try and apply this as we 00:30:21.679 --> 00:30:28.000 play here's the point the greatness of god's the greatness that you need to understand to find the 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:35.539 comfort of isaiah 40 you will not find in here in your imagination instead you find the greatness of 00:30:35.539 --> 00:30:43.759 god in the word of god as it explains to you who he is and what he's like as he tells you not to look to 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:50.079 what you imagine but he tells you to look and understand who he is look at creation in the light of 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:56.279 what he's told you and christian the point this morning is that that god the god who knows every star by 00:30:56.279 --> 00:31:03.460 name is your god he's the god of christmas he's the god of the incarnation he's the god who in verse 11 00:31:03.460 --> 00:31:10.039 tends his flock like a shepherd gathering them in his arms carrying them close to his heart and gently 00:31:10.039 --> 00:31:16.000 leading us that's our god it's the god of the cross and the resurrection of new life by the spirit 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:22.160 it's the god who's promised to carry us home we can't make him he made us we can't buy him 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:26.620 he has paid our debt we can't fathom him but he knows everything about us 00:31:26.620 --> 00:31:36.220 joseph scriven was a young man with all of his life ahead of him he was from a wealthy family 00:31:36.220 --> 00:31:44.519 and he was due to be married on the night before his wedding his fiancee drowned tragically and died 00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:51.720 that full of grief joseph left ireland to go to canada to try and start a new life turn over a new 00:31:51.720 --> 00:31:59.319 league and he fell in love again got engaged again and his fiancee eliza died of pneumonia before they 00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:07.160 could marry tragedy on tragedy grief on grief it was then really in the midst of the tears and the 00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:12.960 agony and the sadness of grief that joseph got serious about living for the lord jesus he shunned 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:18.480 his family wealth he gave it away to others especially those who were physically unable to 00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:26.840 work and he was generous and kind to those around him he learned that his mother back in ireland was 00:32:26.840 --> 00:32:34.660 dying he had no money to go and see her he had no way of returning to be by her bedside so instead he 00:32:34.660 --> 00:32:41.539 wrote her a poem with the only comfort he knew and it's the comfort of isaiah 40 this is what he wrote 00:32:41.539 --> 00:32:48.799 what a friend we have in jesus all our sins and griefs to bear what a privilege to carry everything 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:56.099 to god in prayer oh what peace we often forfeit oh what needless pain we bear all because we do not 00:32:56.099 --> 00:33:04.299 carry everything to god in prayer have we trials and temptations is there trouble anywhere we should 00:33:04.299 --> 00:33:11.919 never be discouraged take it to the lord in prayer can we find a friend so faithful who will all our 00:33:11.919 --> 00:33:21.419 sorrows share jesus knows fathoms our every weakness take it to the lord in prayer are we weak 00:33:21.419 --> 00:33:30.440 and heavy laden cumbered with a load of care precious savior still our refuge take it to the lord in prayer 00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:40.559 do your friends despise forsake you take it to the lord in prayer in his arms he'll take and shield you 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:48.820 you will find a solace there well let's have a pause for us to pray on our own and then i'll pray 00:33:48.819 --> 00:33:51.059 and we'll sing in response of what we've heard 00:33:51.059 --> 00:33:55.819 so 00:34:18.820 --> 00:34:39.760 have any father we could answer yes to pretty much every one of joseph scriven's questions 00:34:39.760 --> 00:34:47.800 have we trials and temptations yes is there trouble anywhere yes are we weak and heavy laden 00:34:47.800 --> 00:34:53.780 encumbered with a load of care yes do our friends despise forsakers yes at times they do 00:34:53.780 --> 00:35:02.160 and so lord we come to you now in prayer recognizing you're the god who fathoms us we don't fathom you 00:35:02.160 --> 00:35:08.960 you're the god who has paid for our debt in the death of the lord jesus christ we could never 00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:12.460 pay you anything we have nothing to give to you 00:35:12.460 --> 00:35:20.619 you lord are the god who knows us loves us takes care of us and will carry us home 00:35:20.619 --> 00:35:26.880 and so we turn to you and trust in you and we thank you for the comfort that we've received this morning 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:33.519 from a greater glimpse of your majesty and your glory please we pray forgive us for our small views of you 00:35:33.519 --> 00:35:39.460 forgive us not only because they're wrong but forgive us because we have carried around unnecessary anxiety 00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:47.579 grief and pain because we've had small views of you bring us comfort comfort comfort we pray 00:35:47.579 --> 00:35:53.659 as we recognize your greatness your majesty and your glory in jesus name amen 00:35:53.659 --> 00:35:54.460 amen 00:35:54.460 --> 00:35:56.460 you