And I would just like to introduce our guest preacher this morning, Reverend Dr. Bob Ackroyd.
! He's no stranger to the islands, but it's appropriate to give him an introduction. Bob came from the east coast of America and came over to study history, the history of the nations of the United Kingdom.
And in doing that, he found the God of history and his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's been a great benefit to the free church down through the years.
Bob has served on numerous committees. He was chairman of the mission board.
He was on a number of other committees as well and has done great work in the church, becoming moderator in 2023.
He's also been involved in prison ministry in Edinburgh, ongoing in that prison ministry.
And it's been amazing to hear what he's been doing there and the way that he's been taken in by the prisoners.
It's wonderful to see that the Lord's people are able to go into these situations and provide help to people who are in need.
So we are so grateful that he's been able to join us today and he will now take over the service.
And I've asked him to go to the main door after the service where he can meet with you.
And one thing I would say is, if you've ever been at a camp with Bob, don't be surprised if he knows your name.
Absolutely amazing the way he's able to remember people.
So if you, and that's decades ago, people who have been at camp with him decades ago, he still remembers their name.
Bob, I'll hand over to you.
Thank you, Margo.
Well, may I add my welcome and warm good morning to you.
I was asked specifically by our principal to convey the greetings of Edinburgh Theological Seminary.
I think you may be familiar with Ivor Martin, so he sends his warm greetings to you all.
And we at the seminary are delighted to serve the church.
And it's a great privilege on an occasion like this to be able to preach here and to share fellowship with you all.
So let us, we're going to, I should say, Murdo mentioned camp.
I'll put a plug in.
I'm leading a camp this summer in Renfrew.
If there are any senior boys and girls, particularly boys, S3 and above.
If you're interested in go-karting and escape rooms and hill climbing.
Anyway, camps are a great ministry of this church.
And if you're a young person here or you're parents of young people and you haven't considered camp,
maybe this year might be a great opportunity of sending some of the young people of this congregation of this town to camp,
even for the first time.
Let's worship God.
We're going to sing to his praise.
We're going to sing from Psalm 67.
It's the first version of that psalm in the Scottish Psalter.
And that's on page 300.
And the tune is Selma.
And we sing those familiar words.
Lord, bless and pity us.
Shine on us with thy face.
That the earth, thy way, and nations all may know thy saving grace.
Let's join our voices together in the praise of God.
Amen.
For the earth, thy way, and nations all may know thy saving grace.
Let people praise thee, Lord.
Let people all be praised.
Oh, let the nations be glad
In songs their voices raise.
Thou just say, people judge
On earth, through nations all
Let people praise thee, Lord.
Let them praise thee, both great and small
In earth, thy fruit shall yield
Our God shall bless him stand
God shall us bless
And shall live thee, unto earth
God shall live thee, unto earth
We've joined our voices in praise.
Let's now unite our hearts in prayer.
Let us pray.
Father in heaven, we thank you for that open invitation
And that vast promise given
That you will be the blessing to all the nations
That as we ask for your blessing upon ourselves
We ask that blessing might overflow
It might overflow into the lives of our families
Into the lives of our communities
Into the life of this nation
Into the nations of this earth
We thank you this morning as we join in worship
We join with your church
From the north and from the south
The east and the west
In all nations, in all continents
Where the name of the Lord Jesus is exalted
And the gospel of the Lord Jesus is heralded
So Lord, we pray that you would indeed
Be merciful to us
You are great and good
You are high and holy
And you have come down now to our level
You have come down to experience life firsthand
So we have in the Lord Jesus
A sympathetic high priest
Who knows, who sees, who cares
Who has walked this way before
So we thank you that when we come to you now in prayer
You understand
You understand the human condition
You understand the human frailty
You understand the struggles
And the trials and the troubles
That are characteristic of this life
And not only do you understand
But you are able
You are able to do above and beyond our asking
Beyond our imagining
Because you, O God, are great in power
Great in might
Great in holiness and righteousness
And Lord, we pray
That by faith we may lay hold of you
That our trust may be rooted in you
In your Son, the Lord Jesus
And that the Holy Spirit himself
Might work in such a way
That the words that are written on a page
Might be words that are imprinted upon our hearts
And lived out in our lives
We thank you that though we are weak
You are strong
Though we are often foolish
You are altogether wise
We are so aware of our inconsistencies
And our limitations
But you are perfectly consistent
And you are limited by nothing
And no one
So Lord, we thank you
That whether from this pulpit
In this place
Throughout this town
Throughout this island
Throughout this nation
Throughout this world
You have promised
That you will accompany
The proclamation of your word
With your presence
With your power
With your blessing
We ask, Lord, that you might exceed
Our expectations
That you might exceed our asking
And that certainly
You might exceed our deserving
Because we come to you
In that name
Which is above every name
At the name of Jesus
We know that one day
Every knee will bow
We know that one day
Every tongue will confess
But until that day comes
We bow our knee
We confess with our tongue
That you are Lord
And we want and long to see
Many more come to that same
Saving knowledge
Where they too will bow their knee
In glad adoration
Where they too will confess
With joy
The Lord Jesus Christ
As their Lord
So hear these our prayers
And answer us
According to
Your rich mercy
Your infinite resources
That are found in Jesus Christ
Your Son
Our Savior
Amen
Well, I want to speak
To the young people here
And I'm sure
You have heard this word before
I'm sure that your parents
Will have told you
That you are precious
And maybe parents
If you haven't used that word recently
Remind your children
That they are indeed precious
There's a verse
That I want to share with you
In the Bible
From Isaiah
This is from Isaiah
Chapter 43, verse 4
For those of us older
With Bibles
Isaiah 43, verse 4
Tells us something
Very important
But before I tell you
About the verse
I want to give you
An illustration
So this ring
That is on my finger
If I look inside
I see a number
And that number is 14
And next to the word
Number 14
Is a capital K
So this tells me
That this ring
Is 14 carat gold
Gold is a precious metal
And if I took this
If I wanted to
If I wanted to sell
This ring
I could take it
To a merchant
The merchant would weigh it
And would give me cash
Based upon the amount
Of gold
And the amount
That this ring weighs
But this ring
Isn't precious to me
Because it's made of gold
Let me tell you
A little bit about this ring
You see this ring
Was given twice
And inside the ring
There are two dates
If I can see
With my limited vision
Now
R-E-S
Plus D-A
8-20-55
So the 20th of August
1955
Ruth Evelyn Spooner
Gave this ring
To Dennis Ackroyd Jr.
My mom and dad
What is it
44 years later
And the other inscription
Inside the ring
Is H-J
Plus
R-A
5-24-99
So this ring
Was given by my mother
To my father
And then this ring
Was given by my wife
To me
She put this ring
On my finger
On the 24th of May
1999
So this ring
Is doubly precious
To me
Not because it's
Made of gold
But because it was
Given in love
My mother
To my father
My wife
To me
Love
You see
The Bible
Tells us
Something very important
And young people
I want you to hear this
Because this is not
What I'm saying
Nor even is it
What your parents
Are saying
And all that's
Very important
But God says this
About you
Because you are
Precious in my eyes
And honored
And I love you
So young people
And not so young people
God has something
That he wants you
To know
He wants you
To know
That in his eyes
You are
Precious
Infinitely
Valuable
You are honored
In his sight
He loves you
You see
If you believe that
Something remarkable
Happens
If you believe
That God knows you
And loves you
That you are
Precious in your sight
In his sight
It changes everything
Changes how you think
Changes how you feel
It changes how you live
And I want to say
I know this is
A children's talk
But as an adult
I'm now 58
I've come to realize
That actually
God means
What he says
I should have realized
That a long time ago
But actually
He means
That I am precious
That I am honored
And that I am loved
And he means that
For you
You are precious
You are honored
You are loved
Sometimes we find it
Difficult
To take God
At his word
He doesn't mean me
He doesn't mean people
Like you know
If he really knew
Well he does really know
But he does say
And when you think
Today
Parents
Somehow
Say to your children
You heard what the preacher
Said today
I want you to know
That you are precious
To me
Because words matter
Words that have
Meaning matter
And God's word
Matters to me
God's word
Matters to you
And no matter
How young you are
This morning
I want you to know
Without a shadow
Of a doubt
That God says
You are precious
To him
You mean so much
Because you are
So valuable
And if you believe that
I guarantee you
Your life
Will be changed
By that truth
So may God bless
To us
His word
Precious
Honored
And loved
I'm now going to lead us
In the Lord's prayer
Let's join our voices
Our Father
Which art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth
As it is in heaven
Give us this day
Our daily bread
And forgive us
Our debts
As we forgive
Our debtors
And lead us not
Into temptation
But deliver us
From evil
For thine is
The kingdom
The power
And the glory
Forever and ever
Amen
Well as we
Now turn again
To sing to God's praise
We're going to sing
From Psalm 103
As the young people
Will make their way
To their Sunday school classes
This is page 135
Psalm 103
And we're going to sing
To the tune
Before the throne
Praise God my soul
With all my heart
Let me exalt his holy name
Forget not all his benefits
His praise
My soul
In song proclaim
Psalm 103
Let's join our voices
In praise
The Lord forgives
To all your sins
I'll guilt your sickness
And distress
Your life he rescues
From the grave
And ground you
In his tenderness
And ground you
In his tenderness
He's got this fight
In his strength
From his unending
Source of good
So God just like
The evil strength
To youthful maker
Is renewed
The Lord is known
For righteous hands
And justice to them
God and what?
To Moses he made known his ways, his mighty deeds to Israel's sons, his mighty deeds to
Israel's sons.
The Lord is merciful and kind, to anger slow and full of praise.
He will not constantly prove, for in his anger hide his face.
It does not punish our misdeeds, or give our sins their just reward.
Our greatest love, as high as heaven, who warms all those who fear the Lord.
Who warms all those who fear the Lord.
Let's turn together to read in God's word.
We're going to read from Isaiah chapter 6.
Isaiah 6 is one of these great commissioning chapters where God is calling and equipping
and giving to one of his people a clear message and a clear ministry.
The time frame, if you're interested, as a history person, I like to know dates.
We're looking at 738 BC.
This is a golden age for Judah.
This is a time in which the nation is going well.
Military, politics, economics, all seem to be going great.
And in the midst of this, the king dies.
The king dies, but the real king still lives and speaks.
So let's read together Isaiah chapter 6.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up.
And the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him stood the seraphim.
Each had six wings.
With two he covered his face.
And with two he covered his feet.
And with two he flew.
And one called to another and said,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
The whole earth is full of his glory.
And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called.
And the house was filled with smoke.
And I said, woe is me, for I am lost.
For I am a man of unclean lips.
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
And he touched my mouth and said, behold, this has touched your lips.
Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us?
Then I said, here am I, send me.
And he said, go and say to this people, keep on hearing, but do not understand.
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.
Make the heart of this people dull and their eyes heavy.
And blind their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears.
And understand with their hearts and turn and be healed.
Then I said, how long, O Lord?
And he said, until cities lie waste without inhabitant and houses without people.
And the land is a desolate waste.
And the Lord removes people far away.
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.
The holy seed is its stump.
Amen.
And may God add his own blessing to this reading from his word.
We're not going to sing again.
We're going to sing from the Scottish Psalter, Psalm number 93.
Psalm 93.
And we'll sing to the tune of Stroudwater.
You'll find this on page 354, near the back of our psalm books.
The Lord doth reign, and clothed is he with majesty most bright.
His works do show him clothed to be, and girt about with might.
Let's join our voices together to sing to God's praise.
The Lord doth reign, and clothed is he with majesty most bright.
His works do show him clothed to be, and girt about with might.
The Lord doth is all so stabbing shed,
But yet can not depart.
Thy throne is fixed, of old and found,
From everlasting heart.
The bloods, O Lord, have lifted up,
They lifted up their voice,
The bloods have lifted up their rays,
And made a mighty noise,
But if the Lord that is on high, is more of might by fire,
a noise of many waters is our great sea willow's eye.
Thy grace to glory, everyone, in faithfulness excel,
and holiness forevermore thy hearts become a thrill.
Whenever I get a chance to visit London,
one of the places that I always go is the British Museum.
A few years ago they had an exhibition, and it was entitled,
Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria, King of the World.
Now in the 7th century BC, the Assyrian Empire was a big deal.
And within the Assyrian Empire, Ashurbanipal was a big deal.
I don't know about you, but I can go months without thinking about the Assyrian Empire,
and years can pass without giving much attention to the emperor, the king, Ashurbanipal.
It reminds us, even as a historian, we forget these great figures of the past.
Empires rise and fall.
Kings come and go.
Presidents and prime ministers fade in the memory.
We encounter in Isaiah 6 something different by far.
Someone different by far.
This is no ordinary king.
This is no ordinary empire.
This is no ordinary encounter.
And as we see in Isaiah 6, and in a few moments hopefully we'll look into Matthew's gospel,
into the New Testament,
I think we are reminded of something profound here.
That whatever our vision and understanding of God is,
whatever our apprehension,
by definition, your view, your God, my God, is far too small.
The God who is, is far greater than any estimation, than any evaluation.
Whatever picture we have in our minds,
whatever ideas we have in our hearts,
is far too small.
There was in the 1950s, a short book was published,
which was entitled,
Your God is Too Small by J.B. Phillips.
And he began that book with this quote,
We can hardly expect to escape a sense of futility and frustration
until we begin to see what he is like and his purposes are.
God will inevitably appear to disappoint the man who is attempting to use him as a convenience,
a prop, or a comfort for his own plans.
God has never been known to disappoint the man who is sincerely wanting to cooperate with his own purposes.
God is great.
God is big.
He's far bigger, far greater, far more powerful than we can ever imagine.
Isaiah encounters the living God in the temple.
As he goes, he sees something that is beyond his comprehension.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,
and the train of his robe filled the temple.
You see, our God is great.
Great in power.
Great in authority.
Great in majesty.
Great in glory.
Great in holiness.
Great in his plans and his purposes.
Our great God appears to us here on the pages of scripture to bring a sense of awe and wonder.
You see, we're told that when Isaiah went to the temple, that the Lord didn't fill the temple.
It wasn't the robe of the Lord that filled the temple, but it was the train,
or in the other translations you have the word hem.
You know what a hem is if you have a pair of trousers or a dress.
The hem is just the very bottom of the trouser leg, the very bottom of the dress.
It's just a small piece of fabric that just brings the piece of cloth to an end.
It's quite insignificant.
And Isaiah is saying, I saw the Lord, and the very hem of his robe filled the temple.
Which means that our God is so great, so big, that even the hem fills this magnificent building of the temple.
And he went on to describe how great our God is.
That he is a God who is great in holiness, a God who is great in glory, and a God who is great in redemption.
We encounter the seraphim, and if you're interested in angels, the only place in the Bible that we read of the seraphim is here.
These angelic servants who are attending God and who are singing this chorus of praise only appear here in scripture.
The angels serve.
They are messengers.
They are servants.
They exist to do the bidding of God.
And here they are telling us, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
The whole earth is full of his glory.
Now the Lord of hosts is one of many descriptions.
And notice that it's the personal name of God, L-O-R-D in capital letters.
Hosts can refer to the heavenly bodies, the stars and the moon and the sun.
But most likely what's emphasized here is that the hosts refer to the angelic army.
And that God is the commander-in-chief of the armies of heaven.
He has the authority to call the angels to do his work, to prosecute his plans, and to achieve his purposes.
So what do we have here?
We have a God who is all-powerful, who has all resources, who accomplishes and achieves whatever he plans and purposes.
This is our great God who we encounter today.
We encounter him, yes, on the pages of scripture, but we can encounter him personally and powerfully.
And when we encounter this God as he is, he never disappoints.
He never discourages.
He never lets us down.
He's far greater than we ever imagined that he could be.
One of the great writers in the history of the church back in the 1700s was a man called John Owen.
John Owen was a man with a big brain.
He wrote many volumes of theology.
But he admitted, he said, we speak much of God.
The truth is we know very little of him.
We know so little of God because it is God thus to be known.
One of the great theological minds said, actually, we know so little.
God is so great and our knowledge is so small.
But what we know fills our hearts with wonder, with awe, and with expectation.
So this great God who is the commander-in-chief of the angelic armies, what he says they do,
we're told that he is great in holiness.
He is set apart from this world.
He is distinct from this world.
He is distinct from the ways of this world.
He is completely set apart.
And if we are one of his people, we likewise are set apart.
A holy God and a holy people go together.
Distinct and separate.
Separate from the ways of this world.
Separate from the standards of this world.
Separate from the spirit of this age.
This holy God.
And whenever the Bible repeats something, it repeats something for emphasis.
It's like how you might, if you're studying and you're reading your textbook and you come across a passage,
you might highlight it.
You might underline it.
You might put a post-it note.
Why?
Because this is important to remember.
And when God, in his word, repeats, holy, holy, holy, this God is set apart from this world.
He's the creator.
We're the creature.
He is high and exalted and we are low and humble.
But notice that not only is he a holy God, but that this God is glorious.
This world that he has created is filled with his glory.
Now, in the Bible, this word glory means a heaviness or a weightiness.
That our God is substantial.
He's significant.
He's not light.
He's not ephemeral.
But he is substantial and significant.
The holy God.
The glory of God.
And then almost immediately we see that this holy and glorious God is a God on a mission.
And a God who has come to achieve something remarkable.
Because the holy God and the God whose glory fills the whole earth is the God who is involved in redeeming a people.
This word redemption is a theme that goes through the whole scripture.
The idea of redemption is payment of a price to set someone free.
The Lord Jesus put it so succinctly.
He said, whoever sins is a slave to sin.
Sin and slavery go together.
That's not how the serpent sold it in Genesis 3.
The serpent sold sin as sin brings freedom, but it never does.
The world sells sin.
Sin brings satisfaction and happiness.
It never does.
Our flesh will try to convince us that sin brings some form of fulfillment or joy, but it never does.
Sin always brings slavery.
But Jesus went on to say, of course,
But if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Sin and slavery, Son and freedom.
And throughout the scriptures, the children of Israel and Egypt, we hear, after the coming of Jesus, exile, captivity, bondage, slavery,
our God is a redeeming God who pays a price to set his people free.
Because the immediate reaction of Isaiah, it's not so much of awe and wonder, but of woe and dread and fear.
The foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
I lived in Japan for two years, and I remember one morning waking up, and the whole house was shaking.
And I thought, boy, it seems like a train.
It must be rumbling right past the house.
It's shaking the house.
I didn't know the train line was so close.
It wasn't a train.
It was an earthquake.
And you kind of felt like you were on the open sea, but you were in a building.
You were on land.
I can't explain the feeling, but you just, it was, once you realized what was happening, it was terrifying.
You know, this idea, everything is now shaking.
Everything was shaking in the temple.
And you could understand that Isaiah was petrified.
He was terrified.
What's happening here?
And notice his reaction.
And I said, woe is me.
I'm in trouble here.
You see, when we encounter God as he is, not as we imagine him to be, not as we hope that he might be,
but as we encounter the God who is holy and glorious and majestic and large,
the natural reaction is, I'm in trouble.
We're in trouble.
And he says exactly that.
I'm a man of sinful lips.
And I live among a people of sinful lips.
So what Isaiah is saying, I am in trouble and we are in trouble.
The God who creates and the God who is glorified and the God who is holy, he encounters us.
And when he encounters us, we now see ourselves in his light.
We now see ourselves in his truth.
And we realize that we are not right.
He's holy, but we aren't.
He's righteous, but we aren't.
He's pure, but we are not.
Woe is me.
I'm in trouble here.
And notice what happens.
Just very succinctly.
One of the seraphim, remember they're singing that angelic chorus, breaks off, as it were,
and flew with a burning coal in his hand to Isaiah.
He had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth and said, behold, this has touched your lips.
Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.
The movement, the direction of travel here is essential.
The problem is Isaiah.
Isaiah.
The problem is the people.
But the solution is God's.
You see, I'm very much, as I now teach, I teach at ETS, and I preach occasionally on Sundays.
And I'm very much aware that you have to not only be content that what you're saying is correct, and that's very important,
but you have to ask yourself as a teacher or as a preacher, what am I saying and how am I being heard?
Because very often I find that when I preach or teach, that people hear things that I'm not saying.
And the reason why we hear things that the preacher isn't saying is because we have these thoughts already in our minds.
We have these deep-grained thoughts in our minds.
And one of those thoughts is, I need to try harder.
I need to do better.
I need to fill in the blank.
I need to read the Bible a bit more.
I need to pray more regularly.
I need to be a better husband.
I need to be a better parent.
I need to.
And you see, so often those thoughts are in our minds.
So even when the Bible says something differently or the preacher says something differently,
we just repeat what we know, what we think we know to be true.
But we see here in very vivid picture language,
the problem is ours, but the solution is God's.
Isaiah isn't able to fix the problem.
The only thing that Isaiah can do is identify the problem.
We can identify our problem, but we can't fix it.
God fixes it.
God provides an answer to our problems.
God fixes what we have broken.
God solves what we cannot solve.
So I want you to see it.
Even if we find it difficult to believe, see the image here.
The angel takes the coal from the altar.
The solution goes from God to the people.
And God provides a way that sin is atoned for, that guilt is taken away.
Guilt and sin go together.
Guilt and shame go together.
The first thing that happened when our first parents sinned was they felt shame.
They felt shame because they were guilty.
They disobeyed a clear command.
They were told sin will bring freedom.
Sin brought guilt and shame and separation.
But the gospel undoes the fall.
The gospel unravels this consequence of sin so that no longer is there guilt, no longer is there shame, no longer is there separation,
but rather a sinful person, a sinful people have now been reconciled to God by God.
It's remarkable.
The God who is so great that the very hem of his garment fills the temple.
The God who is so great in holiness that his holiness and glory fill the whole earth.
And the God who looks down in mercy and takes the initiative to solve that great problem of human sin,
of human guilt, of human separation, of human despair.
This is our God.
This is God in his glory.
This is God in his greatness.
And Isaiah introduces us to this magnificent God.
In the 19th century, God raised up some remarkable characters.
He raised up people that went to the ends of the earth with the gospel, like Hudson Taylor went to China.
He raised up pulpit ministries like C.H. Spurgeon in London,
where he preached to 6,000 people every Sunday morning, every Sunday evening.
There were stories told where the Metropolitan Tabernacle was filled,
and that there were queues outside the door to come in.
Spurgeon said to the congregation,
Can I please ask every converted person here to leave,
so that your seat might be filled with those who are not yet Christians?
That's remarkable.
A remarkable, a 6,000 seat venue was so full that the preacher said,
Can I ask those who are already Christians to leave,
because there are people outside who are not yet Christians who want to come in?
And the third character that strikes me is D.L. Moody, the American evangelist.
He had a fourth grade education.
That means at age 10, he left school.
He wasn't well educated, but he was eager to learn.
And if you're eager to learn, and you're converted by Christ, watch out.
Because this man, without a formal education, became a powerful preacher of the gospel.
He described the gospel in these three, you see,
he describes the simple message of the gospel in simple terms.
He said, The gospel is three R's.
One, we are ruined, ruined by the fall.
Two, we are redeemed, we are redeemed by the blood.
And three, we are regenerated by the spirit.
Sin brings ruin.
But the gospel brings redemption, brings regeneration.
And this young man, D.L. Moody, for the next 40 years of his life,
he preached Jesus to 100 million people in person.
Not educated, not refined, but he had a passion in the gospel,
and he had a vision of how great God was, and how great God is.
So God redeems, and God restores, and God renews.
That's the gospel of Jesus.
And what we find in Isaiah chapter 6,
we find that there's a vivid link between Isaiah 6 and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, the link we see is in Isaiah itself.
You'll notice in the first verse we're told,
I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up.
If you move forward in Isaiah to Isaiah chapter 52 and verse 13,
the final of the four servant songs,
Isaiah 42, Isaiah 49, Isaiah 50, and Isaiah 52, 53,
the introduction to the final servant song begins this way.
Behold, my servant shall act wisely.
He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted.
The same words that introduce the vision of Isaiah in chapter 6
are the same words that introduce this final song of the servant in 52 and 53.
This same servant who will be crushed.
This same servant who will be bruised.
This same servant who will be pierced.
Pierced for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace is upon him,
and by his stripes we are healed.
So the God who is high and lifted up in that vision in the temple,
and the suffering servant who is high and lifted up,
but lifted up not on a throne but on a cross,
lifted up not to public adoration but to public ridicule and scorn.
And we see this vital link between the vision of Isaiah 6
and the suffering servant of Isaiah 52.
And we are reminded that we have an exalted and a risen and an honored Jesus,
that he is high, that he is lifted up,
that he is powerful, that he is holy,
that he is glorious, that he is able.
You see, what is seen in picture language in Isaiah 6
is now seen in personal language in Isaiah 52 and 53.
The coal taken from the altar,
the atonement for sin,
the taking away of guilt,
is now found in a person.
And that person is Jesus.
He is the means by which God redeems
and restores and rescues and renews.
So as you read Isaiah 6,
you have to read Isaiah 6 along with Isaiah 52 and 53.
But I'd like to notice one final connection.
And you'll notice on the order of service
that the text was from Matthew chapter 9.
Let me just read a few verses from Matthew 9,
from verse 18 to 26.
While he was saying these things to them,
behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him saying,
my daughter has just died,
but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.
Jesus rose and followed him with his disciples.
And behold, a woman who had suffered
from a discharge of blood for 12 years
came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment.
For she said to herself,
if I only touch his garment, I will be made well.
Jesus turned and seeing her, he said,
take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well.
And instantly the woman was made well.
And when Jesus came to the ruler's house
and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,
he said, go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.
And they laughed at him.
But when the crowd had been put outside,
he went in and took the girl,
took her by the hand and the girl arose.
And the report of this went through all that district.
I was struck in Isaiah chapter 6
by this vision of the hem of the robe filling the temple.
How great God is.
And I was struck in Matthew chapter 9
by this woman who had suffered for so many years
that she had the faith simply to touch the hem of the garment of Jesus,
just the fringe of his robe.
She somehow felt, she somehow knew,
she somehow was confident that if she just touched
the very edge of his garment,
that she could be made whole.
This is how great Jesus is.
This is how powerful he is.
You see, becoming a follower of Jesus
is not the measure of your confidence in him.
Many of us, myself included,
our faith is variable.
Sometimes it's weak.
Sometimes it's strong.
Sometimes we can be overwhelmed with doubts.
We can be uncertain.
We can be confused.
So you see, for me,
being a follower of Jesus
is not the strength of my faith,
not the strength of my commitment,
not the depth of my understanding.
But my identity as a follower of Jesus
is based upon the strength of his commitment,
based upon the strength of his power,
based upon who he is and what he can do.
Because this woman touches the very fringe,
and she's made whole.
How is that possible?
How can just a simple touch
heal one who had suffered for so long?
How can a simple act of faith
transform the human heart,
change the human mind,
change the very direction?
I don't know how that's possible,
but I know it is possible.
I don't know how he does it.
But just as this woman who reached out in faith,
because that's the key,
Jesus identified her faith.
She had enough faith to touch the hem.
She had enough knowledge to reach out.
So this morning,
it's not how much you know.
It's not how strong your faith is,
but who is the object of your faith?
Where do you find your confidence lying?
Is your confidence in yourself,
how much you understand,
how much you've been able to do,
or is your confidence in the one
who can make you whole,
who can make you clean,
who can fix what you have broken,
who can restore what you have lost?
Even if your faith is so small like the woman's,
and you feel like I can just barely touch
the hem of his garment.
The moment she touched,
she was made whole.
And when we reach out in faith to Jesus,
with the weakest,
with the most limited understanding,
watch what he can do.
Watch his power,
his authority,
his capacity,
his ability.
And I want you to know
that we have a strong savior this morning.
Our faith might be weak,
but his power is strong.
Our commitment might be variable,
but his commitment is persistent,
personal,
and he will bring his people home.
He has the ability not only to forgive us,
but he has the ability
to strengthen us along the way,
and to make sure that not one of us is lost.
I mentioned the connection between Isaiah 6
and Isaiah 52.
In each of the four gospels,
the commissioning of Isaiah 6 is mentioned
at one point or another.
In each of the four gospels,
the final servant song of Isaiah is quoted.
And I think what we are told there
is that the vision of the exalted Lord
in the temple
and the vision of the suffering servant
is found nowhere else
than in the person and the work
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew wants us to know that.
Mark wants us to realize.
Luke wants us to know.
And John wants to make it crystal clear
that the Lord who is high and exalted
is the same Jesus
who is lifted upon the cross
so that all men, women, boys, girls
might see, might perceive,
and might respond to him.
Our God is so great.
Our gospel is so great
because our Savior is so great.
He's great in power.
He's great in authority.
He's great in love.
He's great in mercy.
And even if you feel,
I can but touch that hem of his garment.
My faith is so weak.
My life is so inconsistent.
And yet, if your faith rests upon him,
he is consistent.
He is powerful.
He is committed.
If you like music,
if you like classical music,
one of my favorite pieces
is the Hallelujah Chorus.
And the Hallelujah Chorus,
one of the great verses
that is quoted from Revelation,
says,
The kingdom of this world
has become
the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ.
And he shall reign forever and ever.
All the ancient emperors,
all the ancient kings
have faded into obscurity.
But our king,
our Lord,
lives and rules and reigns today.
He will reign forever and ever.
He is king of kings.
He is lord of lords.
He is all-powerful.
He is all-present.
He is all-merciful.
He is all-loving.
So how big is your God?
How big is your Savior?
Is he big enough
to take your sin away?
Is he powerful enough
to renew your heart?
The Bible says yes.
He's big enough.
He's powerful enough.
He's gracious enough.
He's able and he's willing.
I've worked for many years,
as Murdo said.
I've been in and out of prison
for the last 25 years.
I remember one.
We used to have young offenders
under 21s at Edinburgh Prison.
And I remember this boy.
I mean, he must have been.
He was 16,
but he looked like he was 12.
You know,
came up to hear on me.
And one of the jobs that we,
one of our responsibilities
as chaplains
is to introduce ourselves
to new admissions.
And you could tell
this guy had never been
in jail before.
He just was stunned.
And I introduced myself
and I said,
I'm one of the chaplains.
Is there anything
I can do to help you?
And he said,
yes, there is.
Can you take me home?
And I said,
I can't do that.
You see,
I wanted to help him,
but there was so,
but I couldn't do that.
I couldn't say,
right,
well,
I'll just take you back
to your house.
I'll just take you back
to your mom,
take you back
to your family.
But I couldn't do that.
You see,
we have in Jesus
a Savior who is willing
to help
and able to help.
He has all power,
all authority,
all wisdom,
and all grace,
and he's willing
to help you.
He's willing to forgive
and able to forgive.
He's willing to transform.
He's able to transform.
That's how great he is
and that's how good he is.
I mentioned
that quotation
from J.B. Phillips,
and I'm reminded
of,
at the end of that book,
he put it this way.
He said,
many people
have a vague,
childish affection
for a half-remembered Jesus,
but they've never used
their adult critical faculties
on this matter at all.
They hardly seem
to the paramount importance
of his claim to be God.
Yet if for one moment
we imagine the claim
to be true,
the mind almost reels
at its significance.
The Jesus who walked
past this woman
and she reached out
and touched,
he is God in the flesh
with all authority,
with all power,
with all honor,
with all glory,
with all holiness.
God has come down.
He's come down
on a mission.
He's come to seek.
He's come to save.
He's come to bring us
so that we might go
from where we are
to where he is.
your God
is too small
and so is mine.
Your Savior
is too small
and so is mine.
But we encounter
a great Savior
with great power,
with great affection,
with great capacity.
And even though
our faith
is so small,
when you have
a small faith
in a great Savior,
watch out.
Watch out for what
he can do in your life.
Watch out for what
he can do
through your life.
Watch out for what
he can do
in the life
of this congregation,
in the life
of this town,
because he is that big.
He is that great.
He is that gracious.
And he is that merciful.
I saw the Lord
high and lifted up
and the hem
of his robe
filled the temple.
Let's pray.
Father in heaven,
I thank you
for each one of us
gathered here.
Lord,
we recognize
that we are weak.
We recognize
that we have sinned.
We recognize
that we are
a people
of unclean lips
and that we are
in desperate need
of your grace,
of your strength,
of your wisdom.
Father,
we come to you
in humility,
but we come
to the one
who is high
and exalted.
We come to you
in weakness,
but we come
to the one
who is strong.
And I pray
that you might give
to us that faith
of that woman
who had suffered
so long.
one day,
the same as the next,
one month,
one year,
time after time.
And for many of us,
life is hard.
Help us to reach out
in faith to Jesus.
And for those of us
who have been
walking the path,
remind us
that we need him
as much today
as we ever have.
We continue
to need his grace.
We continue
to need his strength.
We continue
to need his love.
We continue
to need his mercy.
But we thank you
that we have
a Savior
who is great
in power,
great in love,
who is both able
and willing.
And our prayer
is in the name
of Jesus.
Amen.
Well, we're going
to sing our final
item of praise,
which is Psalm 124.
That's from
the Sing Psalms version.
And we're going
to sing to the tune
Old 124th.
So Psalm 124.
we'll sing
these words
to God's praise.
If God the Lord
had not been
on our side,
let Israel say,
had not the Lord
been near
when foes attacked us,
filling us
with fear.
Let's join our voices
in God's praise.
Please.
When the wrath against us reached its height,
Our ivory had been swallowed in their spite.
We would have been enveloped by the flood,
O malarettes and torrents would have gone,
The waters would have carried us along,
But praise the Lord, for he has set us free,
And has long left us to their cruelty.
We have escaped just as our captured bird,
Out of the flowers met us being set free.
The snare is come, we are of liberty,
Our help is in the name of God the Lord,
To reveal the earth and heavens by this word.
Let us pray.
And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
Rest upon, abide with us this day and forevermore.
Amen.