WEBVTT 00:00:00.660 --> 00:00:05.339 We're going to read the end of Isaiah 40 from verse 27 down to verse 31, 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:08.960 and Jen is going to come and read the passage for us. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:09.939 Say, Jen, I'll give it to you. 00:00:11.900 --> 00:00:13.519 From verse 27. 00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:16.820 Why do you complain, Jacob? 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:20.640 Why do you say, Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord? 00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:24.260 My cause is disregarded by my God. 00:00:24.580 --> 00:00:26.820 Do you not know? Have you not heard? 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.339 The Lord is the everlasting God. 00:00:29.339 --> 00:00:31.500 The creator of the ends of the earth. 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:36.960 He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:41.340 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:46.780 Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:52.719 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:55.200 They will soar on wings like eagles. 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:57.579 They will run and not grow weary. 00:00:57.579 --> 00:00:59.899 They will walk and not be faint. 00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:04.980 Thanks, Jen. 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:09.039 If you're just visiting with us this morning, or it's the first time that you've been with us for a while, 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:14.099 you might not know we've been working our way through Isaiah 40 over these last few weeks. 00:01:14.099 --> 00:01:20.619 And it's been a joy to see how the Lord gives us comfort and courage to keep going. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:23.239 And that's what we've been finding in Isaiah 40. 00:01:23.479 --> 00:01:28.899 And our prayer together as a church family is that as we look at God's word, that he speaks to us, 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:36.619 that we engage with the Lord as we engage with what he has said and continues to say through his word, the Bible. 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:42.480 And so I'm going to pray and ask for the Spirit's help for me as I speak, for all of us as we listen this morning. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:43.020 Let me pray. 00:01:44.380 --> 00:01:49.439 Father, we do thank you that we have come together this morning not to listen to Steve's good ideas, 00:01:49.520 --> 00:01:52.480 which would be a really terrible waste of a Sunday morning, 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:58.900 but that we've come to listen to you because we long to hear what you say to us by your Spirit through your word. 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:03.460 We long for that renewed strength that we'd already been praying for. 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:06.640 And so, Lord, we ask that you might meet with us this morning, 00:02:07.440 --> 00:02:11.140 that you might speak to us, encourage us and help us, we pray. 00:02:11.659 --> 00:02:13.879 In Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:15.000 Amen. 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:22.659 I think probably the greatest Christmas movie of all time is 00:02:22.659 --> 00:02:26.819 Die Hard, said Alvina. 00:02:26.819 --> 00:02:28.719 Guy says, 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:32.199 Home Alone, and Guy is absolutely right. 00:02:32.359 --> 00:02:35.400 Okay, so, in Home Alone, you might know the story, 00:02:35.519 --> 00:02:39.239 Kevin, the youngest of five children, is left behind by his parents 00:02:39.239 --> 00:02:46.560 who inexplicably go on holiday at Christmas to Paris with loads of kids. 00:02:46.939 --> 00:02:50.539 I think when I first watched the movie when I was a young teenager, 00:02:50.900 --> 00:02:53.840 I didn't really understand how much that must have cost them. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:59.120 That was an absolute fortune to take so many people on holiday to Paris for Christmas. 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:00.400 But anyway, they do that. 00:03:00.819 --> 00:03:03.840 And Kevin is left behind accidentally, and he is alone, 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:07.240 and left to fend off crooks who try to break into his house. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:13.000 Now, of course, the movie is famous because of the traps that Kevin famously lays for the burglars. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.379 So, you know, the nail on the steps, yeah? 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.800 And so he all kind of wince as he treads on the nail, 00:03:19.979 --> 00:03:25.300 or the glowing hot door handle and all that kind of stuff that's going on, 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:27.340 the paint cans swinging down into this face. 00:03:27.340 --> 00:03:31.340 But there is a scene before that, a scene of real pathos, you know, 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:34.740 of sadness and a kind of emotional angst, 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:41.180 as Kevin is walking down the street past loads of other houses where the lights are on, 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:45.120 and he can see into those houses that they are full of people, 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:47.039 and they're having a great time. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:50.480 They're there together as families, and they are enjoying each other's company. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:55.479 And he can see that they're in there, in the warmth, having a lovely time, 00:03:55.539 --> 00:04:01.419 and he's out there in the cold and the darkness and the snow all on his own. 00:04:01.519 --> 00:04:03.479 And it's really moving, isn't it? 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:04.899 Here is a guy. 00:04:04.959 --> 00:04:08.319 This is what it's like to be all alone for Christmas. 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:12.679 And I start there because I think that's the sense, 00:04:12.799 --> 00:04:16.980 that sort of pathos is the sense of Isaiah 40, verse 27. 00:04:17.719 --> 00:04:18.719 Just take a look at it. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:20.740 Why do you complain, Jacob? 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:22.180 And why do you say, Israel, 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:25.380 My way is hidden from the Lord. 00:04:26.320 --> 00:04:29.460 My cause is disregarded by my God. 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:34.180 The complaint from Israel here that Isaiah is echoing is that, 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:36.740 Lord, we're on the outside. 00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:42.120 We're looking in from the snow and the cold and the dark, 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:45.680 and others who are in your presence and enjoying your warmth, 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:47.220 and we're not. 00:04:47.220 --> 00:04:49.680 Our way has been disregarded by God. 00:04:49.780 --> 00:04:55.520 We are spiritual Kevins, ignored, outsiders to his plans. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:01.480 You know, to follow the theme of Isaiah 40 that we picked up from Isaiah 40, verse 1, 00:05:01.960 --> 00:05:05.620 this really is one of the big discomforts of the Christian life, isn't it? 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:10.100 Chapter 40 is all about the comfort of God in an uncomfortable world. 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:14.300 And here we've hit perhaps on the hardest part of the Christian experience. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:18.140 What is the hardest part of being a Christian? 00:05:18.900 --> 00:05:26.120 The hardest part, I think, of being a Christian is not just the suffering or the pain or the injustice, 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:29.400 or even the grief of loss and sadness. 00:05:29.900 --> 00:05:31.580 We experience all of those, don't we? 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:33.900 We live in a world where those things happen. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:34.840 They happen to us. 00:05:35.200 --> 00:05:36.260 They happen to others. 00:05:36.259 --> 00:05:39.279 There's no protection from that as a Christian. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:45.639 You don't kind of glide through life without losing a loved one or out ever being betrayed by a friend if you're a Christian. 00:05:45.719 --> 00:05:46.980 Those things happen to you too, don't they? 00:05:46.980 --> 00:05:54.000 But the hardest thing as a Christian is this, is that in the midst of all of that, 00:05:54.680 --> 00:06:00.660 is this feeling at times that God has not noticed. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:08.939 That perhaps our way is hidden from the Lord, or our cause is disregarded by our God. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:12.700 Now, if you're a Christian this morning, surely you know what that's like. 00:06:12.699 --> 00:06:22.019 Doesn't it, at times, if you're honest, have felt like in your Christian life that the Father feels distant to you, 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:24.579 uninterested and far away. 00:06:26.219 --> 00:06:30.919 You sit down at home to read your Bible and pray because you've been told that's a really good thing for Christians to do, 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:34.879 to sit down on their own every day, take a little bit of time to read their Bible and pray. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:35.879 It's a brilliant thing to do. 00:06:35.939 --> 00:06:36.539 You should do it. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.620 But you do it and it just feels like I'm going through the motions. 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:45.280 Perhaps the progress that you'd hoped to make in certain areas of your life just doesn't seem to have happened. 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:50.439 Your battle with envy and pride and despair and anxiety seem just as real as they ever were. 00:06:50.840 --> 00:06:54.860 Yet my way is hidden from my God, says Isaiah, and you go, spot on. 00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:56.800 That's exactly how I feel this morning. 00:06:57.879 --> 00:06:59.340 God has abandoned me for sure. 00:06:59.339 --> 00:07:10.039 Now, I think in all probability, Isaiah, when he speaks these words, is prophesying about how the people will feel in exile in Babylon 00:07:10.039 --> 00:07:16.159 when they've been carried off from Jerusalem, from their home city, when invaders have destroyed Jerusalem. 00:07:16.939 --> 00:07:18.159 So the temple will be gone. 00:07:18.239 --> 00:07:19.319 It's going to be burned to the ground. 00:07:19.539 --> 00:07:21.299 The city walls are going to be pulled down. 00:07:21.379 --> 00:07:23.120 The city will be defenseless and a mess. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:31.079 And their home will be a foreign city in a foreign land, away from their history and their heritage, away from the place of the promises. 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:35.180 They will feel forgotten and abandoned by God. 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:39.620 And in a sense here, Isaiah is anticipating that for them and saying, 00:07:40.060 --> 00:07:44.079 hey, let me give you some words to say when you will feel like this. 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:49.639 So maybe this morning, if you don't actually feel this, it's still good for you to hear this. 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:57.000 Because I think it's true that at some point in your Christian life, you will feel like Isaiah 40, verse 27. 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:02.439 Interesting, in his answer to their complaint, he tackles it head on, doesn't he? 00:08:02.459 --> 00:08:03.779 He says, why do you say this? 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:05.879 Why do you speak like that? 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:09.339 Because there should be some good answers to that question. 00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:14.199 If you're feeling like that this morning, if you're feeling like a spiritual Kevin this morning, 00:08:14.599 --> 00:08:15.759 there are things to say. 00:08:15.860 --> 00:08:17.539 There are some answers, says Isaiah. 00:08:17.540 --> 00:08:19.780 You don't need to complain like that. 00:08:19.860 --> 00:08:21.560 You don't need to feel like that. 00:08:21.960 --> 00:08:23.280 There is something to say. 00:08:24.260 --> 00:08:30.540 And then what he goes on to do, basically, is to say, listen, there are two things to know and one thing to do. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.120 Two things to know and one thing to do. 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:38.240 And there's no surprises in here, because I've told most of you, most of these things already with the kids. 00:08:38.779 --> 00:08:39.840 So here's the first thing. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:43.279 Know that God never gets tired. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:44.899 God never gets tired. 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:45.899 Look down at verse 28. 00:08:45.899 --> 00:08:51.639 In lots of ways, verse 28 is a repeat of some of the things that we were seeing last week from the center of chapter 40. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:56.840 But here he reminds them by asking questions that the answer should be obvious to. 00:08:56.959 --> 00:08:57.959 You know, don't you know this? 00:08:58.019 --> 00:08:58.679 Haven't you heard this? 00:08:58.959 --> 00:09:01.519 That God is the everlasting, eternal God. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:04.000 God has no beginning. 00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:05.639 He has no end. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:08.340 There is no time where God has not been. 00:09:09.220 --> 00:09:11.019 He's the one who did not need to be made. 00:09:11.019 --> 00:09:17.439 He himself is the creator and originator of all things, all things everywhere to the ends of the earth. 00:09:18.139 --> 00:09:22.620 Meaning not only that there is not a time where God has not been. 00:09:23.079 --> 00:09:26.220 There is not a point in history where God has not been. 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:32.120 But there is also not a place in geography where God has not been or where he is not. 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:36.940 And then importantly, he says, verse 28, God is untiring. 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:39.399 God does not get worn out. 00:09:39.500 --> 00:09:41.639 He does not grow tired or weary. 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:50.319 You know, you shouldn't think of God as doing that thing that you perhaps do after a long day at work or a long day out. 00:09:50.819 --> 00:09:53.179 Christmas shopping in Oxford Street or whatever it is, right? 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:57.980 You come home and you collapse into your favorite chair at home going, oh, I'm utterly exhausted. 00:09:58.939 --> 00:10:00.199 God is never like that. 00:10:00.779 --> 00:10:06.200 He's not sort of collapsing into the sofa of glory at the end of the day going, what a day that was. 00:10:07.100 --> 00:10:08.299 No, God is untiring. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:10.679 He is wise beyond our learning. 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:13.620 He has an understanding which is unsearchable. 00:10:14.579 --> 00:10:16.699 In other words, Isaiah is saying again, isn't he? 00:10:16.979 --> 00:10:23.339 Listen, in the midst of feeling like you are on the outside of God, don't assume that you know what God is thinking. 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:26.179 Because his ways are unsearchable to you. 00:10:27.359 --> 00:10:30.179 God does not owe you an explanation for what's going on. 00:10:30.620 --> 00:10:33.839 Even if he did explain, the chances are you wouldn't understand anyway. 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:36.699 Because his ways are in essence unsearchable. 00:10:36.700 --> 00:10:43.940 Before we rush through the passage to think about some other things, let's just kind of ponder on this for a moment. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:54.400 Isaiah says to you, he says to me this morning, the first cure for your spiritual weariness, that experience or feeling of being on the outside, 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:58.080 the first cure to that is to remember what God is really like. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:03.240 We said, didn't we, last week, that there's not a situation that you face. 00:11:03.740 --> 00:11:05.740 There's not a suffering that you're enduring. 00:11:05.920 --> 00:11:07.340 There's not a problem that you have. 00:11:07.680 --> 00:11:21.300 There's not even an idol that you are tempted to trust, which is not confronted by or comforted by having a bigger, better, clearer view of the awesomeness of God. 00:11:21.299 --> 00:11:26.479 Our suffering tends to reduce God, doesn't it? 00:11:27.779 --> 00:11:34.659 And so Isaiah's solution is not just to have a sort of better theoretical grasp of who God is, but to have an actual grasp of who God is. 00:11:34.740 --> 00:11:41.519 Like I've told to myself regularly, Steve, don't forget, don't forget God is not weary. 00:11:42.219 --> 00:11:44.620 He's not collapsed into the sofa of glory. 00:11:45.019 --> 00:11:47.559 You're not frustrating God's energy levels. 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:49.319 God is untiring. 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:58.120 You see, the feeling that I have that God is distant, that he doesn't know and that he doesn't see, there's a word to describe that. 00:11:58.980 --> 00:12:00.840 It's a lie, isn't it? 00:12:01.660 --> 00:12:04.360 And it's a lie, firstly, about the character of God. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:07.040 Because, of course, God hasn't forgotten us. 00:12:07.140 --> 00:12:07.320 Has he? 00:12:07.680 --> 00:12:14.700 For God to have forgotten us or for us to be hidden from him, there must be a place in the world where God is not. 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:16.640 Of course, that place doesn't exist. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:23.539 Or to be forgotten by God, it must mean that God is kind of too tired to know or come to the end of himself. 00:12:23.659 --> 00:12:25.019 But that is impossible also. 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:33.100 I don't know whether you've done these yourselves, but in our house, we've been doing those personality tests. 00:12:33.340 --> 00:12:37.220 See, one of our daughters had to do those for an application that she's been doing. 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:46.340 And so, you know, you go through them and they tell you whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, whether you're led by your feelings or by facts or I can't remember all the other ones. 00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:50.440 They're never very flattering to me, so I don't really like them very much. 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:53.420 But anyway, you know, it's those kind of things, isn't it? 00:12:53.420 --> 00:12:56.740 Are you led by the data or are you led by your feelings? 00:12:57.980 --> 00:13:06.519 And Isaiah here, saying to us, whatever our personality is and whatever we are like, he is saying to us, if you're a Christian this morning, 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:16.699 to live simply by your feelings or perceptions is a dangerous place to be because your feelings will not always tell you the truth of who God is and what he's like. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:23.500 At times, he says, you will feel like God is distant and far away and that you're on the outside. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:25.740 But it's not true. 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:26.899 It's a lie. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:34.199 Because the reality is it is impossible for God to be distant when he's the creator of the ends of the earth who never grows weary. 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:42.720 Instead, end of verse 28, you need to remember that when it comes to understanding God, you and I are significantly limited. 00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:58.100 Don Carson, who's written a book on suffering called How Long, O Lord, describes the experience of suffering as the experience of entering into a tunnel. 00:13:58.100 --> 00:14:09.019 Suddenly, as you enter the pain of physical illness or emotional trauma or grief or loss, what happens is sort of that everything else kind of gets blocked out. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:13.220 And the only thing that you can see is the suffering that you're experiencing. 00:14:13.940 --> 00:14:15.820 It's all you know in a given moment. 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:20.759 That's why I think people try to distract themselves when they're suffering, don't they? 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:27.120 Maybe you watch more TV than you would have done or you end up scrolling your phone for hours and hours. 00:14:27.580 --> 00:14:31.860 Not because it's helping, but because it's trying to just distract you from this tunnel that you're in. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:37.319 Well, here in Isaiah 40, it's like, if you like, he's just putting the light on in the tunnel. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:39.019 So don't forget. 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:40.799 Don't forget what God's like. 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:45.080 In the midst of your suffering and your difficulty, don't forget that God never grows weary. 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:46.879 God's not tired. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:49.220 So that's the first thing. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:53.139 We must know that God doesn't get tired, never gets tired. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:57.259 The second thing to know is you do get tired, right? 00:14:57.460 --> 00:14:58.460 You do get tired. 00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:03.159 We'll come back to verse 29 in a moment, but just skip it to verse 30 and listen to what he says. 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:08.960 Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall. 00:15:09.939 --> 00:15:11.320 Here the contrast is obvious, isn't it? 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:13.440 It's between verse 28 and verse 30. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:18.080 You live in a world made by a God who never grows weary, an untiring God. 00:15:18.420 --> 00:15:20.120 But you and I are not him. 00:15:20.900 --> 00:15:24.400 We didn't make the world, nor are we untiring. 00:15:25.380 --> 00:15:31.440 In fact, the opposite, all of us, even the youngest and the fittest, run out of energy at some point or another. 00:15:33.580 --> 00:15:37.080 Now, of course, the image is physical strength, as we were considering with the kids. 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:43.040 But the point is not just that even the youngest of us would give up running a race. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.000 It's also the idea of spiritual strength. 00:15:49.060 --> 00:15:51.940 The idea isn't just that all of us need a day off, right? 00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:54.540 All of us need to take a holiday from time to time. 00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:55.500 All of us need a break. 00:15:55.780 --> 00:15:59.500 But actually, the spiritual strength to keep going, we don't have either. 00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:04.340 The complaint, remember, is that God's people feel abandoned and forgotten. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:09.399 They feel like that God has overlooked them and is unaware of the circumstances that they're in. 00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:13.620 They feel like they're unable to carry on, that they have no strength to keep trusting the Lord. 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:17.500 Now, of course, there's a physical element, isn't there, to spiritual weariness. 00:16:18.259 --> 00:16:20.460 We're not neatly partitioned people, are we? 00:16:20.500 --> 00:16:23.700 Often when we're physically struggling, we're also spiritually struggling. 00:16:23.700 --> 00:16:28.299 And when we're spiritually struggling, it's sometimes difficult to get ourselves going physically as well. 00:16:28.299 --> 00:16:35.759 But the point is here that there is nobody who is so young or so energetic that they could keep going and not have to give up. 00:16:36.279 --> 00:16:43.219 And there's nobody spiritually so vigorous, so intelligent, so wise that they can keep trusting and keep going in their own strength. 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:48.519 Everyone in their own strength will give way. 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:54.679 Even if you've been a Christian for 50 years this morning, even if you're in Christian ministry, 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:59.599 even if you grew up knowing the gospel in a loving Christian home, 00:17:00.599 --> 00:17:06.599 even if you can't remember when you learned about Jesus because it was told to you right from the very beginning, 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:11.159 even if that is you this morning, you will still grow weary. 00:17:12.159 --> 00:17:13.539 You will still run out of energy. 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:17.079 None of us, by our strength, can keep going. 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:22.699 Paul Tripp, an American guy, has written a book called Lead, 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:27.159 written for people in pastoral ministry or for church leaders. 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:30.839 And he observes that there's a particular dynamic, 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:38.099 which means that Christian ministers, pastors, elders are particularly bad at acknowledging their own weakness, 00:17:38.879 --> 00:17:41.379 this particular kind of weakness specifically. 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:47.100 He says that they often refuse to be candid about their inability to do things in their own strength. 00:17:47.760 --> 00:17:52.900 And he tells the story, a devastating story, really, about a church that's doing great things. 00:17:53.040 --> 00:17:56.360 This church is experiencing real blessing. 00:17:56.500 --> 00:17:57.320 The church is growing. 00:17:58.020 --> 00:18:00.040 They're enjoying good fellowship with one another. 00:18:00.900 --> 00:18:04.440 And on a particular weekend, they'd had a great Sunday. 00:18:04.800 --> 00:18:06.800 The pastor had preached a great sermon. 00:18:07.040 --> 00:18:10.120 They'd had a fellowship meal afterwards, which had gone really well. 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:14.219 That the members' meeting on the Sunday evening had given some exciting reports 00:18:14.219 --> 00:18:17.039 about things that were happening in the life of the church and the future plans. 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:19.679 The finances of the church were in great shape. 00:18:20.199 --> 00:18:22.199 But then they had a leaders' meeting on the Monday. 00:18:23.579 --> 00:18:25.599 And the pastor came in and he said this. 00:18:25.639 --> 00:18:27.839 Let me just read to you what he said. 00:18:29.019 --> 00:18:31.639 Pastor said, I can't do this anymore. 00:18:32.899 --> 00:18:34.599 I don't want to preach any more sermons. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:37.199 I don't want to lead any more meetings. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:41.059 I don't want to talk to anyone else about their problems. 00:18:41.660 --> 00:18:44.059 I'm not even sure that I want to be married. 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:47.819 In case you're wondering, I haven't cheated on my wife. 00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:49.759 I haven't embezzled any of the church's money. 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:51.480 It's just that I'm done. 00:18:53.080 --> 00:18:55.640 I'm not going to continue to put myself through this. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:57.480 I hate what I'm doing. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:18:59.840 I find it burdensome and exhausting. 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:04.259 I cannot imagine continuing to do what I'm doing. 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:09.359 I have no other plan than what I'm doing right now. 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:10.359 Quitting. 00:19:11.339 --> 00:19:15.139 I can't tell you how relieved I am that tomorrow I won't be a pastor anymore. 00:19:16.019 --> 00:19:17.679 I don't want to talk to you about this. 00:19:17.819 --> 00:19:19.179 I don't want you to pray over me. 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:20.459 I don't want to go to a counselor. 00:19:21.059 --> 00:19:24.740 I know you want to help, but I don't want help. 00:19:24.819 --> 00:19:26.139 I want to be left alone. 00:19:26.140 --> 00:19:28.040 I want to be free to move on. 00:19:28.520 --> 00:19:31.040 If you cut me off financially, that won't stop me. 00:19:31.140 --> 00:19:31.700 I'm done. 00:19:32.040 --> 00:19:34.200 And there's nothing that will undo that. 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:37.820 And with that, he got up and walked out of the meeting. 00:19:38.780 --> 00:19:40.240 It's dramatic, isn't it? 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:44.600 Let me tell you to reassure you, I don't feel like that right now. 00:19:45.600 --> 00:19:51.660 But it's there to illustrate the point that everybody comes to the end of their resources. 00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:55.140 And it's not the absence of blessing, is it? 00:19:55.140 --> 00:20:01.580 It is the presence of human weakness and frailty that we cannot keep going. 00:20:02.020 --> 00:20:04.140 Even youths grow faint. 00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:10.400 And listen this morning, if you're sat there and you think, I will never feel like that, pastor. 00:20:11.340 --> 00:20:13.120 That will never be me. 00:20:13.660 --> 00:20:19.600 If that's what you're thinking as you listen to that being read, can I warn you that you have a really unrealistic view of yourself? 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:24.439 I think there are some people, aren't they? 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:29.179 Maybe we do this just because we're too embarrassed to actually say what we need. 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:33.839 But you know when you go around, sometimes a prayer meeting or something like that, you're meeting as a small group of friends, 00:20:33.939 --> 00:20:39.359 maybe the women's fellowship or a small group Bible study or a prayer meeting on a Wednesday night, whatever it is. 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:41.279 And they go around and say, how can we pray for you? 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:46.679 And you look blank and you go, well, I don't think there's anything really. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:53.059 You know, if you say that, again, you really haven't understood who you really are. 00:20:53.059 --> 00:20:57.220 Will you pray for me that I keep going as a Christian? 00:20:57.539 --> 00:21:00.799 Because I know that without the Lord's help, that will not happen. 00:21:00.919 --> 00:21:01.940 I will not keep going. 00:21:02.019 --> 00:21:08.059 I need the Lord's help in every moment of every day because I grow tired and weary in my own strength. 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:14.159 I need you to know that as a pastor, I cannot keep going. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:20.539 Not just keep going in my job, but I cannot keep going spiritually in my own strength. 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:25.379 I know and I am so grateful that many of you pray for me. 00:21:26.059 --> 00:21:27.539 Please keep praying for me. 00:21:29.159 --> 00:21:34.339 Just to make sure that we land this point, Isaiah is saying to Israel that their perception that God is distant, 00:21:34.579 --> 00:21:39.759 that they are spiritual Kevins excluded from the warmth of fellowship with God. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.259 It's not an indication that they've arrived at a place where God is not present. 00:21:45.180 --> 00:21:47.639 It's not that they've exhausted God of his energy. 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:55.100 Rather, when they feel like Isaiah 40 verse 27, it's because they have run out of energy. 00:21:55.940 --> 00:22:01.440 They've been running on their own gas and it's run dry and they've crashed. 00:22:02.180 --> 00:22:04.080 And it's as inevitable as it was tragic. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:08.259 Perhaps this is particularly pertinent for someone this morning. 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:15.220 Perhaps you've been thinking to this point, you know, your spiritual life is something that you're in charge of. 00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:17.759 Something that you can run on your own. 00:22:18.819 --> 00:22:24.220 Maybe you thought, you know what, to keep going spiritually, I'll kind of dip into YouTube sermons from time to time, 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:27.559 from various different preachers, and I'll kind of visit church occasionally. 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:32.700 But basically, largely speaking, I can live the Christian life based on my own strength and my own resources. 00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:36.519 That's the message of the world, isn't it? 00:22:36.539 --> 00:22:38.460 That's what we teach our children at school, isn't it? 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:39.619 You've got this. 00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:41.519 You can do this. 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:42.940 Be the best you. 00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:43.679 Dig deep. 00:22:44.059 --> 00:22:45.440 Pattern up or whatever it is. 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:49.740 But the reality is, if that is your life plan, you will crash. 00:22:50.299 --> 00:22:51.500 Your energy will dry up. 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:53.179 You will stumble and you will fall. 00:22:53.180 --> 00:23:02.440 And until you understand how weak you are and how limited you are, well, you'll always be about to crash. 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:04.640 Think about it like this. 00:23:04.740 --> 00:23:10.400 It's like the tap on your sink at home in the kitchen, right? 00:23:11.860 --> 00:23:15.279 Why does water come out of the tap in the kitchen when you turn it on? 00:23:15.840 --> 00:23:18.259 Well, because it's connected to the water supply, right? 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:28.359 If somebody on the street puts a digger through the water main that supplies water to your home, you turn on the tap in the kitchen, water will come out for a little bit, perhaps. 00:23:29.160 --> 00:23:30.839 The dregs of what's in the pipes. 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:35.759 But one day it will just go completely dead, won't it? 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:37.619 And that's so with us. 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:40.339 We are limited creatures. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:44.619 We were made by God to be dependent on him. 00:23:44.619 --> 00:23:51.859 We were made and created to live in a garden where there's the tree of life, where you would reach and eat. 00:23:52.879 --> 00:23:53.559 We renewed. 00:23:55.500 --> 00:24:02.459 And sin, our desire to push God away and reject him, has severed our relationship with God. 00:24:03.500 --> 00:24:04.859 We live for ourselves. 00:24:05.019 --> 00:24:05.919 We give up on his law. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:06.979 We go our own way. 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:09.219 And that means that we run dry. 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:10.220 We live for ourselves. 00:24:10.220 --> 00:24:16.039 So just like God said to Adam and Eve in the garden, the day you eat of the fruit, you will surely die. 00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:21.620 Not simply as a kind of punitive punishment, but really as a reflection of what's happened. 00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:24.600 They have severed their relationship with God. 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:27.839 They have removed themselves from the source of their life, from God himself. 00:24:28.860 --> 00:24:30.759 And so you and I need to know that. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:34.319 We do not have the resources in ourselves to sustain ourselves. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.960 God is the one who never gets tired. 00:24:38.259 --> 00:24:40.599 You and me, we do. 00:24:42.679 --> 00:24:44.419 Thirdly then, what do we do about it? 00:24:44.779 --> 00:24:47.139 We live in a world where God never tires, where we get tired. 00:24:47.220 --> 00:24:48.319 What are we supposed to do? 00:24:48.779 --> 00:24:52.059 Thirdly then, wait and receive strength. 00:24:53.059 --> 00:24:54.700 This was hinted at in verse 29. 00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:57.519 Let me read verse 29 to 31 to you. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:27.000 Waiting for the Lord or hoping in the Lord, as the NIV translates it, is how our strength is renewed. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:32.879 And with strength renewed, God's people will soar like eagles and run and not grow weary. 00:25:33.740 --> 00:25:37.680 And just to be super clear, in case you were wondering this, this is not literal. 00:25:37.859 --> 00:25:39.960 This is a picture, right? 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:45.839 It's not that waiting on the Lord will make you capable of running or flying great distances. 00:25:46.619 --> 00:25:51.519 Nor is the point, if you wait upon the Lord, you will soar through life without anything difficult happening to you. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:26:05.980 No, rather the point is that in the midst of the chaos of what is happening, it is possible for us to experience and know a connection with God which brings supplies and vitality to our lives. 00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:09.139 Knowing that God will bring us safely home to be with him. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:16.400 So for God's people in exile in Babylon, if they will wait on the Lord, he will bring them back to Jerusalem. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:21.380 And so for us, if we will wait on the Lord, he will bring us safely home to glory. 00:26:21.500 --> 00:26:25.400 Like a soaring eagle gliding the updrafts of the Scottish coast. 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:30.740 Or Mo Farah, not breaking a sweat as he glides around the track. 00:26:31.500 --> 00:26:36.820 So we will find ourselves with the Lord in glory. 00:26:36.819 --> 00:26:40.679 If we will hope in him in the midst of this world now. 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:42.240 Of course that means, doesn't it? 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:43.539 What's the big question for us now? 00:26:43.700 --> 00:26:45.500 Is really, what does that mean, right? 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:50.559 It's the kind of thing that you say as a Christian, oh, I need to wait for the Lord or hope in the Lord. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:52.259 But it's not necessarily something we understand. 00:26:52.359 --> 00:26:53.059 So what does it mean? 00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:56.740 What does it mean to wait for the Lord or hope in him? 00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:02.480 What probably doesn't help as we try to get to grips with this is that our Bible translators, 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:06.160 which I understand why they've done this, because it makes it easier to read. 00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:09.299 But this word has been used all the way through Isaiah's book. 00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:16.860 He's used it 15 times, and it's translated variously as wait or hope or look or trust or even long for. 00:27:17.360 --> 00:27:19.680 And so that's the sense here. 00:27:19.819 --> 00:27:24.960 Waiting in the Lord or hoping in the Lord is looking to the Lord, trusting in the Lord, longing for the Lord. 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:28.460 Interestingly, when Isaiah first used the word in his book, 00:27:28.460 --> 00:27:32.240 he actually uses it not of us longing for or looking for God. 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:35.099 He uses it of God looking at his people. 00:27:35.940 --> 00:27:40.920 God is waiting or looking for his people to bear good fruit. 00:27:42.059 --> 00:27:46.799 And instead, they bear wild grapes, we're told in chapter 5. 00:27:47.819 --> 00:27:51.839 So instead of the righteous deeds that he had hoped for, he gets wickedness and rebellion. 00:27:52.660 --> 00:27:56.519 So God, in his waiting on us, is gravely disappointed. 00:27:57.019 --> 00:27:58.819 What he looks for, he doesn't find. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:03.720 And then in the rest of the book, Isaiah flips the picture around and says, 00:28:03.819 --> 00:28:08.799 actually, no, the image really now is not really God waiting for us to bear righteous fruit. 00:28:08.879 --> 00:28:12.539 It is us waiting for God to do what we were unable to do for him. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:19.740 And so the rest of the book is about us longing for him, hoping in him and not being disappointed. 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:24.880 And so this is the first sense of this word hope or wait in verse 31. 00:28:25.859 --> 00:28:30.539 The sense here, if you're hoping for someone to do something or waiting for something, 00:28:30.839 --> 00:28:36.120 then what you're doing is you are relying on them to work and not you to work. 00:28:36.980 --> 00:28:43.200 You, in this very process, you are understanding that it is their work that makes the difference, not your work. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:49.000 You know, you wait for or you hope for a bus, yeah? 00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:51.559 Why are you waiting for the bus? 00:28:52.140 --> 00:28:53.799 It's because you're not driving it. 00:28:54.120 --> 00:28:57.880 You are reliant on somebody else to bring the bus to you, yeah? 00:28:57.960 --> 00:28:59.779 You are hoping that the bus will arrive. 00:29:00.779 --> 00:29:04.759 You wait for a delivery because you are not the one delivering it. 00:29:04.759 --> 00:29:11.180 So here, the image that the key to spiritual health and comfort is to realize with an increasing clarity 00:29:11.180 --> 00:29:16.500 that the dynamic of the Christian life is that God is doing the work, not us. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:22.059 That our Christian lives are dependent on what God has done and not on what we do. 00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:28.099 The big reality of the Christian life is that it's not us working our way for God, 00:29:28.339 --> 00:29:30.519 but it's what God is doing for us. 00:29:31.339 --> 00:29:34.660 Now, of course, you and I can see that even more clearly than Isaiah could. 00:29:35.420 --> 00:29:38.539 Isaiah saw this as a prophet looking forward to the coming of Christ. 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:42.099 You and I read it as people who know of the coming of Christ. 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:48.759 We know that the Lord Jesus has come and done this work for us on the cross, 00:29:49.420 --> 00:29:53.259 a work that's now applied to us by faith, faith which is the empty hand, 00:29:53.259 --> 00:29:59.980 which reaches out and receives the work of Christ as we are connected to him 00:29:59.980 --> 00:30:04.400 and receive forgiveness of sins and adoption into the family of God. 00:30:04.759 --> 00:30:09.140 Now, that doesn't mean that we have nothing to do, does it? 00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:11.599 It doesn't mean that there's not works for us to do. 00:30:11.700 --> 00:30:15.740 God has given us work to do, work that pleases him and brings him glory, 00:30:15.879 --> 00:30:20.400 but our work flows out of his energy and work coming into us. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:26.220 The Christian life is about not God receiving from us, but us receiving from him. 00:30:27.660 --> 00:30:33.060 And this is Isaiah's spiritual comfort for the weary saint who feels like God is absent. 00:30:33.560 --> 00:30:34.440 That's you this morning. 00:30:34.580 --> 00:30:36.519 This is what he says. 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:37.980 Stop. 00:30:38.579 --> 00:30:39.279 Will you? 00:30:39.639 --> 00:30:41.779 Will you just stop? 00:30:43.079 --> 00:30:46.220 You know, the fact that you feel like your way is hidden from God 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:49.639 or that you feel like a spiritual Kevin walking the streets on Christmas Eve 00:30:49.639 --> 00:30:56.200 is because you've lost this sense of the connection to the source of spiritual life, 00:30:56.359 --> 00:30:59.579 which is Christ alone and what he has done. 00:30:59.579 --> 00:31:05.319 Maybe the truth is this morning that you've never really stopped like that at all, ever. 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:07.480 You might not have called yourself a Christian, 00:31:08.159 --> 00:31:11.659 but essentially what you've basically been doing is trying to do things for God, 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:14.699 not receiving from him what he has done. 00:31:15.579 --> 00:31:20.619 So if you've never done this before, let me encourage you, if that's you, please stop. 00:31:21.819 --> 00:31:24.240 Stop trying to do this in your own strength. 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:28.400 Stop pretending that God is impressed with what you do 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:31.940 when the reality is you need to trust what he has done. 00:31:33.059 --> 00:31:36.000 And for some of us, we've been Christians for a really long time. 00:31:36.819 --> 00:31:41.480 But maybe the reality is that we're weary or we're cold or we're spiritually flagging. 00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:44.880 And so too for you, the message is exactly the same. 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:45.500 Don't worry. 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:46.920 Stop. 00:31:47.460 --> 00:31:48.740 Will you just stop? 00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:50.620 Will you wait? 00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:52.620 Will you look? 00:31:52.619 --> 00:31:54.239 Will you trust? 00:31:55.039 --> 00:31:58.639 Will you long for what the Lord is doing and not what you can do? 00:32:02.579 --> 00:32:06.799 I'm told that the great Victorian preacher Charles Spurgeon 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:11.979 used to illustrate the Christian life as a voyage on a ship across a great ocean. 00:32:13.299 --> 00:32:16.819 So I suppose in his day they were, you know, great sailing boats, weren't they? 00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:24.759 You imagine, you know, sailing across the Atlantic to the Americas and you're sailing on this great ship. 00:32:25.539 --> 00:32:27.359 And as you leave harbour, it's beautiful. 00:32:27.579 --> 00:32:31.059 Like the mast is new and it looks fantastic. 00:32:31.939 --> 00:32:36.259 And all the, you know, all the deck is shiny because it's been scrubbed clean by everybody. 00:32:36.259 --> 00:32:43.400 And you imagine as you set out on this journey, you imagine that you're going to pull into harbour at the other side of the ocean. 00:32:43.940 --> 00:32:46.599 And you're going to have this glorious gleaming ship. 00:32:47.299 --> 00:32:49.500 And it's going to, you know, everyone's going, oh, look at that. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:50.740 That's brilliant. 00:32:50.859 --> 00:32:51.480 That's amazing. 00:32:52.779 --> 00:32:55.339 He says that's what people imagine the Christian life to be, right? 00:32:55.339 --> 00:33:01.720 That actually we will pull into the shores of glory when we die or the Lord Jesus returns. 00:33:01.980 --> 00:33:08.659 And our spiritual ships will be glorious and majestic and just full of great victories. 00:33:09.779 --> 00:33:11.339 The Spirit says, no, it's not like that at all. 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:16.519 What happens across the ocean is that you're battered by a storm which rips your sails. 00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:20.779 It breaks the, whatever you call the thing that holds your sails up. 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:22.839 It breaks it, snaps it off, clean off. 00:33:23.679 --> 00:33:27.939 You don't have time to scrub the deck and clean it because, to be honest, you're so massed. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:28.399 Thank you. 00:33:28.899 --> 00:33:30.379 Yes, the mast is broken. 00:33:30.599 --> 00:33:32.359 You don't have time to scrub the deck. 00:33:32.419 --> 00:33:35.679 So it's full of mould and moss and all sorts of things. 00:33:36.159 --> 00:33:40.879 And the hull of the boat is slightly broken and you're taking on water. 00:33:41.220 --> 00:33:44.519 And when you pull into the shores of glory, that's what we look like. 00:33:44.519 --> 00:33:48.319 And you look at it and go, how on earth did that ship ever make it here? 00:33:49.179 --> 00:33:51.000 How on earth did that ship ever make it here? 00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:54.539 Because God brought it here. 00:33:54.680 --> 00:33:55.819 That's the answer, isn't it? 00:33:56.619 --> 00:34:01.640 So listen, if in your Christian life you're feeling battered and bruised and broken, 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:04.579 you don't have the energy that you thought you would have, 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:06.599 you've not made the progress that you thought you would, 00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:10.960 you've been caught in a storm, you've been battered and bruised and broken, 00:34:11.099 --> 00:34:12.579 and your mast is snapped, 00:34:12.980 --> 00:34:13.719 don't worry. 00:34:14.579 --> 00:34:16.519 God will still bring you to the shores of glory. 00:34:16.519 --> 00:34:20.159 And when you get there, you will say, 00:34:20.259 --> 00:34:22.000 how on earth did I make it? 00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:26.079 And the answer will be, because God did it. 00:34:26.699 --> 00:34:27.719 Because God did it. 00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:30.739 And that's the truth of Isaiah 40. 00:34:31.460 --> 00:34:32.860 All of us grow weary, 00:34:33.579 --> 00:34:35.059 but God never does. 00:34:35.059 --> 00:34:38.039 And he, through Christ, 00:34:38.380 --> 00:34:40.079 by the work of his spirit in our hearts, 00:34:40.179 --> 00:34:42.219 can give us the strength to keep going, 00:34:42.699 --> 00:34:43.739 day by day, 00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:45.519 moment by moment, 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:47.579 and bring us safely home. 00:34:48.599 --> 00:34:50.599 Those who hope in the Lord 00:34:50.599 --> 00:34:52.539 will renew their strength. 00:34:53.380 --> 00:34:55.480 They will soar on wings like eagles. 00:34:55.639 --> 00:34:57.400 They will run and not grow weary. 00:34:58.059 --> 00:34:58.980 They will walk 00:34:58.980 --> 00:35:00.480 and not be faint. 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:05.159 Well, let's stop and pray. 00:35:08.360 --> 00:35:09.099 Heavenly Father, 00:35:09.219 --> 00:35:11.659 would you forgive us 00:35:11.659 --> 00:35:13.980 that we think at times 00:35:13.980 --> 00:35:15.340 we can run the Christian life 00:35:15.340 --> 00:35:16.360 in our own strength. 00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:22.679 Thank you that our way is not hidden from you 00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:24.760 or our cause disregarded by you. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:28.039 But thank you that in the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:29.820 you've given us all that we need. 00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:32.599 That we might be brought safely home. 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:35.000 And some of us this morning 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:36.519 feel particularly battered and bruised. 00:35:36.599 --> 00:35:37.679 Our masts are broken. 00:35:38.539 --> 00:35:39.539 Our hull is cracked. 00:35:40.579 --> 00:35:41.980 Yet, Lord, we know you'll bring us 00:35:41.980 --> 00:35:43.380 to the shores of glory 00:35:43.380 --> 00:35:46.039 by the remarkable miracle 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:47.260 of your grace and mercy 00:35:47.260 --> 00:35:48.000 in the Lord Jesus. 00:35:49.659 --> 00:35:50.719 Please, Lord, we pray. 00:35:51.699 --> 00:35:52.900 Would you help us to do 00:35:52.900 --> 00:35:55.800 perhaps the most spiritually beneficial thing to do, 00:35:56.240 --> 00:35:59.440 which is not to preach another sermon, 00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:01.460 to read another book, 00:36:01.960 --> 00:36:04.240 to send another email or WhatsApp, 00:36:04.240 --> 00:36:06.639 but the most spiritually beneficial thing to do 00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:07.619 just to stop, 00:36:08.179 --> 00:36:09.500 to wait, 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:11.579 to hope, 00:36:11.880 --> 00:36:12.539 to trust, 00:36:13.300 --> 00:36:14.220 to look to you 00:36:14.220 --> 00:36:15.980 and say, 00:36:16.119 --> 00:36:16.800 please, Lord, 00:36:17.480 --> 00:36:19.400 give me all that I need 00:36:19.400 --> 00:36:21.139 for I have nothing in myself. 00:36:21.139 --> 00:36:23.519 I trust in you. 00:36:24.799 --> 00:36:26.219 Bring me safely home, 00:36:26.259 --> 00:36:27.519 I pray in Jesus' name. 00:36:28.519 --> 00:36:28.859 Amen. 00:36:28.859 --> 00:36:29.059 Amen. 00:36:29.059 --> 00:36:29.619 Amen.